Pritesh Tupe RSS FeedArticles about technology, Personal opinion pieces, and fiction series!2024-03-18T23:22:40Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/Pritesh Tupemail@priteshtupe.comA Thing about Curiosity2015-11-06T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/A-thing-about-curiosity/<p><em>It's been a very long time since anything that I heard in the classroom excited me...</em></p>
<p>I remember listening about Dalton's theory for the first time in my Science class ages ago, and I remember how I visualised every thing around us being the same, just being arranged differently. I was seeing the world in a whole new way; the theories of sub-atomic particles that followed further reinforced my new perspective and boy, the thoughts running through my head whilst these things were being taught!</p>
<p>Pretty soon, school was done, and here I am today, in a renowned university learning the great skills. But I miss the "zing" I felt at those times. Probably because back then, I was simply curious. Pure curiousness drove me. Now, things have changed. Although I still have a load of questions, something feels missing. Is it just me?</p>
<p>I guess I can attribute this to a couple of factors. The first being, this is simply a part of growing up. Is our curiosity nullified gradually the more we grow? Why so? May be it is because we accrue worries exponentially. Becoming "Part-of-the-World" is the end goal. Money and Family become the driving factor. Well, this can't be helped. But then again, is it possible to simply BE a curious person? By that, i mean not letting the "growing-up" part get in the way of your curiosity. Well, I can say I am curious even now, thankfully, so then why does learning in classroom does not excite me as much?</p>
<p>This brings me to my next factor - non-conducive environment. The things that I am being "taught" aren't enough; my doubts are being scorned at, indirectly, curiosity is being squashed. And it's not the teacher's fault. The resources they have at their disposal are laughable, and they worry more about your clothes, IDs and other useless things than what their student really takes from a lecture. Sure we have the Internet to satisfy our curiosity, but somehow, it's just not the same. Can we have better ways of being taught? Hell yeah. Then why don't we? Is this a problem with the education system? So much for being "renowned".</p>
<p>Well, what can I say? I feel like it all comes down to individual choice. No one can stop you from learning. As they say, where there is a will, there is a way. All my rant was probably a way for me to give fuel to my own faltering flames of curiosity, but hopefully, it'll help you in ways I know not. And this being my first blog, I'm not exactly up to speed on the etiquette's of how long (or short) I should keep my work, so I'll bid adieu here and hopefully, curiosity will guide me to learn and explore stuff that I can share further in more meaningful blogs. Good day!</p>
All is Fair...2015-11-09T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/All-is-fair.../<p><em>"I should have told her, I should have told her how much..." he sobbed away into silence. Those were the last words he ever spoke.</em></p>
<h2>New Delhi, 2030.</h2>
<p>Colonel Singh was proud, as any father would be of his son who had just been accept into the Indian Army. He had a strong salute for his son's regiment as they passed by in the parade, and a smile crossed his lips when the salute was returned back, albeit no one saw the smile, it being hidden under a thick layer of neatly kept beard.</p>
<p>After the ceremony, he asked his son for any gift that his heart desired. Lt. Amar Singh replied "That smile on your face, I want it there forever as a gift, dad". 'So he did see it then' thought the old man, 'he's my son after all, heh'. Then he saw another young man beaming and coming towards him. "Colonel Singh" he saluted "it's so nice to meet you". 'Do i know him?' "Dad, he's my bestie Chauhan. Oh, Lt. Chauhan now!" chipped in Amar. "Oh hello Lt., Congratulations" quipped the colonel, yet as he said so, he saw his son's eye drift towards a young lady who was seemingly telling inside stories about the ceremony to her family. Soon enough, Amar said "Let's go Chau, or we'll miss the orientation. Bye Dad. See ya when I see ya". And so they went, young birds in service of the great country.</p>
<h2>North Sikkim, 2037.</h2>
<p>"I'm out of fucking ammo" some young buck under his command stood and shouted, before being immediately pierced through his cheeks by a stray bullet. "STAY DOWN!" shouted Captain Amar in the chaos, hoping the severely weathered rock at the cave entrance would provide some shelter from the onslaught that was nearing every second. "We're trapped, although this is not a bad place for a tomb, I'd really like to live." he heard Chau say just behind him. Amar's mind was racing, desperately searching for a tactic to distract the enemy, at least until his unit was safely away. But all his mind did was play back those horrendous memories of recent weeks.</p>
<p>Taliban had struck simultaneously from 2 points. One through Kargil, just like in '99 and another through a small hamlet in Gujarat. The army was already on high alert along the border yet still dispatched a few regiments to form a backup against the insurgency. What they didn't know was, the Chinese and Bangladeshi had infiltrated deep into the territory disguised as locals and their attack was sudden, swift and without mercy. The situation has escalated to a full scale war. India's reply was a counter attack, the largest military mobilisation since World War II.</p>
<p>"SWOOSH!" a bullet zipped past slashing his earlobe. "Cap, hold it together" he heard from a side. 'I must get my men out or we're as good as dead... but how? Ah yes, Chiki!' He swung around, grabbed Chau by his collar and roared in his ear over the noise "Is the palm radio working?" Chau replied in affirmative. "Call Chiki, air strike 1 klick East of our current position". Chau stood there for a moment, face open "Chiki?". "Yes, radio NOW soldier!' While he watched Chau fish out a small flat brick of a device from his toolkit, his thoughts again began to wander.</p>
<p>They both saw her at the same time, thick auburn hair on a splendidly sculpted face. There she stood, like a Goddess, in all her glory. "Air force girls are sooo hot man!" whispered Chau. 'True that!' thought Amar, but said "Hey, watch it. She'll kick your ass if she hears you". They were both in some sort of collaboration, representing the Army unit in the area whilst she was from the Air force unit. As she introduced herself to some Major, they both strained their ears. "What did she say? Chiki? Her name is Chiki?" laughed Chau. "No idiot, how can anyone's name be Chiki?" scolded Amar, realising too late that she was now just behind him. "It's not, my name is Cherika" she said and both the boys went silent. "It means, the Moon", again blank stares, "okaaay, nice meeting you guys!" she smiled effortlessly and walked past in a stiff march that suited her perfectly, while muttering "army idiots" under her breath. Both Amar and Chauhan knew they were in love, but only Chauhan said "Man, she's the one for me". Amar remained silent.</p>
<p>"Yes, 1 klick to the EAST of our current position... Roger... Roger that... Over and Out!" Chau looked at Amar, "It's done Cap, ETA 5 min". Amar looked over his troop, all staring at him expectantly. This was a live or die moment after all, and they all looked up to him, expecting him to tip the odds in favour of live. "Okay guys, here's the plan - in less than 5 minute, Air Sup is going to drop artillery between us and the enemy. As soon as the first bomb drops, I want everyone forming up and doubling down to South West. The sun will go down soon, march silently through the trenches and reach the outpost. Tell them we got a whole regiment to fight with come morning. Ready Ho!". Chau looked concerned, when Amar gestured, he said "We won't make it with them on our back, very high casualty risk, Cap", to which Amar replied "They won't follow you, just stay silent". "Follow you? Follow us Amar, you are coming with us too" Chau said with a desperate edge to his voice. "I'm your Captain, remember that Lt. You are to follow every command I give, no matter what". Chau looked like his heart was just wrenched from his ribs, Amar did all he could to keep a stern countenance.</p>
<p>The air in the cave was thick with tension, every now and then a bullet ricocheted off a far wall. Those few minutes felt like infinity when suddenly all went silent. All waited with bated breaths for something to happen, and something did happen. Like a massive earthquake, the whole cave shook. instantly followed by a thunderous sound and a hard whoosh of an F35 Jet of the Indian Air Force.</p>
<p><em>Author's Note : This is a work of fiction, so are all the events and characters within. The views and opinions expressed are entirely personal and do not reflect the official policy of any agency or government. The contents should not be utilised for analytics as they are based on out-dated and/or fictitious information.</em></p>
<p><em>Part 2 will be up soon continuing for the cave escape.</em></p>
...in Love and War2015-11-11T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/...In-Love-and-War/<p><em>Author's Note : This is a work of fiction, as are all the events and characters within. The views and opinions expressed are entirely personal and do not reflect the official policy of any agency or government. The contents should not be utilised for analytics as they are based on out-dated and/or fictitious information.</em></p>
<p><em>This is part 2, continuation of a short story starting with post "All is fair..", check it out if you haven't already. Enjoy!</em></p>
<h2>New Delhi, 2030.</h2>
<p>It was the passing out ceremony. She saw him stealing looks at her, even when he was with that other guy and a senior official; she always did. She didn't know how, in all the time they were in NDA, she always caught this guy glancing at her. She shrugged, laying it all down on a secret connection she hoped they had. Her cousin was teasing her about all the tough muscles around her, and she let it slip that the one set in her eyes was not from Air Force but actually an Lt from the Army. "But you always said that army guys are idiots!", her cousin teased. "Whatever" she said, rolling her eyes. She intended to introduce herself to him and see what this guy was all about.</p>
<h2>Sikkim, 2037.</h2>
<p>She was jolted from her fond memories by a radio crackle in her head set. 'Damn, I mustn't day dream while on patrol, especially during war. Bad girl.'</p>
<p>""Eagle 24-9? This is unit Critter on Ground, xGPS online. Need help. Respond, over"".</p>
<p>""Unit Critter this is Eagle 24-9, got you on map, what do you need? over""</p>
<p>""Need you to throw dirt on some Bulls, one klick east of our current position. how far out are you? over""</p>
<p>""Repeat Confirmation, 1 Klick East. over"</p>
<p>""Yes, 1 klick to the EAST of our current position, confirm, Over.""</p>
<p>"" Gotcha, Scrambling the Jets""</p>
<p>""Roger. ""</p>
<p>""Estimated time of arrival... 5 minutes, just hold on. Over"</p>
<p>""Roger that... Over and Out!"</p>
<p>So, unit Critter, that's his Unit. Captain Amar. She had missed the opportunity to introduce herself after the ceremony, and thereon, they went their different ways. By a stroke of luck, this war had thrown them together in same zone. Over the period, she got to hear about his rise to Captain ship and how he lost more than half his unit down in Laya. She wondered how ANYONE could've survived what could only be described as a slaughter in a death trap. She even saw him at the meeting at the start of zonal collaboration and had introduced herself. Yet then, she herself was responding to a emergency due south so had to rush out. 'Back to reality girl!' she shook her cheeks. She called in her wing men, informed them of the change in route and plan, logged herself and felt the tingles in her heart as she always did when facing the enemy. She just hoped the enemy regiment didn't carry any Anti-Air as she didn't want any scratches on her high flying baby. 5 minutes out, here we come boys.</p>
<p>
</p>
<hr />
<p>
</p>
<p>"MOVE OUT NOW!" Amar shouted. "Nighty, break a section down the left and go east over south. Crackpot you lead the rest the other way" Both men shouted in affirmative and then Nighty asked "Which way are you coming Cap?" Amar said "Right behind Crakpot, now MOVE!"</p>
<p>Chau was the last of his men out of the cave, and Amar was right behind him. They were moving at steady speed when after a couple of minutes, Amar made his move. Using the artillery smoke and ambient chaos as his cover, he slipped behind the back and ran right back whence they came. Soon he was past their cave and sought a position as his last stand. "That one looks a cosy nest there, on your 3" he heard a familiar voice behind him "Sorry Cap, couldn't leave you alone". 'damn him' "You disobeyed direct orders Soldier." "Yeah, bite me, Singh da launda" That brought a smile to Amar's face and he didn't hide it like his old man. "Fine, that nest does look cosy, let's set up shop there"</p>
<p>It was a nice perch, elevated enough to give a birds eye view of surrounding area. Not that there was much to see, just smoke and dust. Still, just as they settled themselves, they heard shouts in a foreign language, unintelligible yet starkly familiar, like urging men to move on, sounds of encouragement. "There, down by that slope, I see one" Amar saw him to, through the x20 scope fitted on his Stealth Magnum Sniper. The next moment, he saw the man's head splatter and his body roll down the slope "Nice shot" he exclaimed, also being suitably tensed because the enemy was now aware of their presence.</p>
<p>"Hey Cap, remember Chiki?", asked Chau. "Seriously, you wanna talk girls right now Chau?" Amar said snidely. "Hey, as better a time as any. She is cute, isn't she? I'm thinking, if we get out of here alive, I'll thank her by asking her out to dinner. you know, for saving our asses back there and all". "Nice excuse you got, asking a girl out because... hey, hell, is that... ?" Amar shook in disbelief. Chau chimed in, "Holy Moly, they brought the Dragon Riders here! Shit, they must've assembled those tanks right here in the valley. What do we do now Cap? Our bullets are useless against them". Amar calmed Chau while saying, "We do what we came back here to do, hold them off as long as we can. still go the radio? pass on the Intel to our guys so they can rely it to HQ. Just hope they aren't pissed that we fooled them into leaving."</p>
<p>So there they say as sun went down beyond the mountains. All the enemy forces, that was crawling on the slopes before had either moved back or went into hiding in the caves. Both men had their eyes peeled for movement, scoping out the entire area between them. Soon enough, their fears materialised. There was a sure rumble through the ground that only grew greater as minutes passed by. "Switch to Night Scope, look out for strays, don't give away our position until the very last. We'll drag some of those Bulls down to hell with us" Amar whispered. 'Roger that' was the only reply he received, along with the clicking sounds as the Scopes were switched.</p>
<p>The sight that received them in the dying light of the sun was both terrifying and heartbreaking in it's magnitude and sheer beauty. Multitudes upon multitudes of steel-titanium reinforced tanks matted to reduce reflection down to nil. They weren't called Dragons for nothing. Their mobility, firepower and precision was well known, along with their extremely thick and resistant armour. And all of them were headed right in their direction. Suddenly Chau said "Did I ever tell you? Why I joined the army?" he didn't wait for a reply, "All my life, I've seen my dad beat up my mom. He was a drunk, never had a sane thought in his addled brain and always used mom as a punching bag. Yet my mom used to feed him, without fail, take care of his stuff, work hard for money which he spent on his sins. Still she supported his destruction, didn't say one word to him. I never understood why and never cared to. One day, I just couldn't take it. Drunk as usual, he came in and slapped my mom because she took so long to open the door, and I lost it. Beat him senseless. And my mom slapped me. She SLAPPED ME! I ran off that day, never looked back. And here we are about to die, and all I can think of is to show her how her son turned out to be, tell her how everything is fine now, just tell tell her how much I missed her all these years."</p>
<p>"It's going to be fine Chau" Amar whispered, not believing a word himself. "Yeah, pff, Right. Fine." Chau returned, "Let's just shoot the hell out of these fuckers!". "Right, Take out as many as you can before they lock on your location, here we go, on my mark, One, Two, Shoot!" 'Clink! Clank! Splish!' noises filled the air as their bullets bounced off the tanks' hides. Some ground units were unlucky to get caught in the mid-fire and died in the night. While both men were shooting at any viable target they could find, a Dragon Rider out of their sight had set his scoped on their nest, and suddenly screamed, "She'ji". He saw the rocks on top of the mountain crumble and soon form a rock avalanche headed right for the sniper he knew was hiding there.</p>
<p>Chau's head was on Amar's lap, his legs smashed into nothing. Both men had bled out pools of blood. There were no more gunshots, no more noises, total silence as last of the pebbles fell into their place. Amar was dead already, a rock having struck him on the back of his head. Chau did know this yet, he never would. He just lay there, his bleeding head resting on this best friends thighs.</p>
<p>"I should've told her, I should've told her how much..." he sobbed away into silence. Those were the last words he ever spoke.</p>
The Play of Shaun's Life2015-12-14T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/The-play-of-shaun's-life/<h2>Act I - Innocence</h2>
<p>Shaun always liked when people called him 'good boy'; He liked being a good boy, because then, mommy would smile and daddy would give a pat on his back or ruffle his hair. Sometimes, it meant a chocolate treat. Sometimes, just a peck on cheek by some stranger. He was so happy. At age 7, Shaun was showing great progress in studies. Always at the top of his class, all teachers praised him, each expecting him to go high up in life.</p>
<p>One day, as he was watching Pokemon, his mom sat by his side and said "Shaun, you're gonna have a sister!" Confused for a moment, he looked at his mom for clues as to how to react and seeing her smile, he started smiling too. He soon told all his friends from school about his baby sister's coming. Everyone, including mom, dad, aunt Cassie and his grandpa were happy, and so was Shaun.</p>
<p>
</p>
<h2>Act II - Fate Strikes</h2>
<p>It was a warm sunny day. As he said Goodbye to his friends at the gates of his school, he saw that instead of mom or dad, his aunt Cassie was there to pick him up. She looked mournful, and hugged him as soon as he came near. Sitting in the car, Shaun asked his aunt where were his mom and dad. She replied with silence. He repeated his question, to which she replied that his mom was at home, waiting for him.</p>
<p>When he went home, he saw his neighbors and mom's friends from office. All looking at him with sad eyes. As he went in, he saw his mom sitting on the sofa, crying in his grandpa's arms. He went to his mom, and asked what happened. She simple hugged him tighter and cried louder. Shaun started crying too; feelings of confusion and his mom's tears invading his innocent brain.</p>
<p>Shaun was aged 12 when he lost his Dad and little sister to a road accident. They had died on the spot when their car spiraled out of control and collided against a stout tree.</p>
<p>
</p>
<h2>Act III - Expectations</h2>
<p>Stacy was the sort of girl that you see most of the time, but rarely notice. A demure expression always clouded her beautiful face, the clothes she wore did no justice to her body and she had a firm yet soft voice that could make a mockingbird mourn, because it couldn't replicate a sound so sweet as hers. She had a kind heart, and empathy to match her good nature, yet for all that, she wasn't blessed with brains for academia. So she asked for help from the topper of her class, and thus met Shaun and Stacy. And this time around, Shaun did notice her.</p>
<p>Aged 16, Stacy desperately needed all the help she could get to pass her Finals. And Shaun was all the help she needed. Soon enough, both started looking forward to their study sessions and love blossomed in both their young hearts. He promised himself that he'd ask her out once the finals were over.</p>
<p>After one such study session, after Stacy went home, Shaun's mom called him in and said she wanted to talk. Shaun noticed how much mom had changed since... She looked much older that her age, and wrinkles of worry and stress always showed on her elegant face. Yet she strove on - for their survival, for his sake. He pitied her for a moment, then felt proud for the courage she possessed.</p>
<p>"Son, remember I visited the Doctor Hollis the day before? Well, he said I'm suffering form Heat Syncope. It means my blood vessels dilate in hot environments and all the blood moves to my legs. So... We have to move to your grandpa's place up North..." After much consternation, and some more discussions, he realized he had no choice. He felt his heart drop when he thought of Stacy.</p>
<p>
</p>
<h2>Act VI - Suffering</h2>
<p>He was now officially an Adult, but that gave him no more pleasure for all it could entail. As he sat there on this dead grandpa's sofa all alone, he reminisced about the life he had lived. Images of him playing with his little sister and dad, his mom cooking up his favorite dish, all his friends giving him a surprise birthday bash, the day when he found out about the accident, how his mom had cried.. and later fought. All the pains she had gone through to take care of him, making sure he never felt wanting, how his grandpa cracked funny jokes, the funeral of his grandpa whom he had come to love and respect in the year he had stayed at his place, how he felt his mom breaking down - piece by piece, held together barely by forces he knew not. Her illness, how the damned doctor had misinterpreted the diagnosis. All the loans he had taken to remedy that mistake and provide her with all the medical attention he could. Yet here he was today, with nothing to show for it all, for all that he did, people still died around him. He thought of Stacy, of how she might be and how it could've been. But more than anything else, his thoughts returned to his mom. The wrinkles of burden on her soft face and how beautiful she looked when she smiled; the last time he had seen her, she was so weak that he could see her skin stretched over the bones. The doctors said there was nothing else they could do. He remembered getting the call, saying she was no more. The emptiness he felt, knowing that she went without seeing his face. That he wasn't there to say goodbye. They assured him it was peaceful, she died in her sleep. But even then, that emptiness was like a storm in his heart. he felt himself shrinking, the world around him becoming unbearably suffocating, trying to choke him till he broke.</p>
<p>Such thoughts assailed him while he waited for aunt Cassie to come; she was going to make the arrangements for his mom's funeral.</p>
<p>
</p>
<h2>Act V - Salvation</h2>
<p>The funeral was a quiet affair; Shaun heard little of the condolences and heeded less still. He didn't know how he was going to survive, what he was going to do now. All the people he loved were gone. He had nothing left to live for. He felt his mom, dad and little siser calling to him from heaven, beckoning him to come to them. He had almost decided to honor that call when he heard a soft sweet voice calling his name. Though moist eyes clouded his vision, he could make out the faint outline of a woman in mourning clothes standing right in front of him. He stood up, expecting to hear more condolences when she suddenly hugged him tight. A little whisper of 'I'm so sorry for your loss Shaun' for that woman's lips pierced his senses, and it felt so genuine that he wiped his tears away and took a closer look at the woman. Somehow, her features were recognizable. He couldn't place her right then, as his memory was foggy at that moment, but she quipped "It's me, Stacy. I read about your mom's passing in the Obituaries and I want you to know that I'm here."</p>
<p>Remembering the study sessions that he had had, which seemed like from another life of ages past, he felt fresh tears pour from his eyes as Stacy again hugged him, tighter this time and in that sweet soft voice of hers, whispered in his ears "It's going to be okay Shaun, It's all going to be okay..." And against all hopes, he decided that it just might be.</p>
Planning Problem using Backward Chaining in Java Part 12015-12-23T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/Planning-Problem-Part-1/<p><em>So, I had this subject called Intelligent Systems for my last semester and we had several hands-on practicals for various modules of this subject. One of those modules was - Planning Problem. We had to implement a simple problem with specific inputs that gave a certain output (see - Spare Tyre Problem). But that was too easy, and didn't really explore the aspect of the module we were expected to learn. So, one fine evening when I had too much time on my hands, I decided to create a code wherein ANY planning problem could be given and a solution for it would be given as output. And for processing, I used the Backward Chaining Technique. The few people who saw the program in action and those who saw the code, all wanted to know how it worked. Now, it's not so easy to give a comprehensive explanation of such a complex code in half a minute. That is the reason why I'm writing this post. A step-by-step implementation of Planning Problem using Backward Chaining in Java. Note that I'm not an advanced programmer or anything, you might find better codes elsewhere. This here is just my two cents. So, here we go.</em></p>
<h2>Planning Problem</h2>
<p>Wikipedia defines Planning as <strong>"A branch of artificial intelligence that concerns the realization of strategies or action sequences, typically for execution by intelligent agents... "</strong></p>
<h3>Let's take an example of the a planning problem.</h3>
<p>Say you have n blocks - A, B, C... and all are of different sizes. Your goal is to pile all the blocks on top of each other such that a smaller block is always on top of the bigger block. So the solution to this problem is a sequence of blocks... X, Y, Z... in order of their size - from biggest to smallest.</p>
<h3>Another example of planning problem is Socks problem.</h3>
<p>You have left shoe & sock and right shoe & sock. Your goal is to wear both Shoes, but condition is that you can't wear a shoe unless you wear the corresponding sock. The solution to this problem is a sequence of wearing socks and Shoes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In a nutshell, what we have in Planning Problems are following -</p>
<p><strong>States</strong> - To represent the structure of the world and entities within.
e.g. - Have(leftShoe) is a state of having the left shoe.</p>
<p><strong>Actions</strong> - Shows what entities can be manipulated and how.
e.g - Put(leftShoe) states the action of putting on the left shoe.</p>
<p><strong>Conditions</strong> - Prerequisites for completing the Actions.
e.g. - Have(leftShoe) is a Condition for Put(leftShoe) i.e you must HAVE a left shoe before you can PUT it on.</p>
<p><strong>Effects</strong> - To represent the state of the world and its entities AFTER an Action have been executed.
e.g. - On(leftShoe) is the Effect of Action Put(leftShoe)</p>
<p><strong>Goal</strong> - The Aim of the problem, also a state.
e.g. - On(leftShoe)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The solution is a sequence of Actions linking the Goal state to initial States.</p>
<p>What I did to obtain this sequence was :</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Start from the Goal State</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Check if it is an Effect of any Action</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Store the Action (as on stack)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Check the Conditions of that Action</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>For a Condition</p>
<p>5.1. If Condition is an Initial State, Check next Condition.</p>
<p>5.1.1. If Next Condition Exists, Repeat from 5.</p>
<p>5.1.2. If No Next Condition, Go To 6.</p>
<p>5.2. If Condition is NOT an Initial State, Repeat from 2.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Print Stack of Actions.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>End.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>If you see the above algorithm carefully, you'll notice that the processing starts from the Goal State of the problem, checking Actions backwards till a chain is formed to the Initial States. This is, in essence, Backward Chaining. Also note that this algorithm is problem agnostic - it can solve any problem, provided a logical input is given.</p>
<h2>Implementation</h2>
<p>Here starts the coding part. I did all the coding part in Net-beans 8.1 using JDK 8u66 x64. Also, note that I haven't used any fancy structures or subroutines and all the code is in single class file, since it would be easily understood that way. So, Let's start!</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Define your package & main class, import Scanner.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Define goal, array of initial_states & actions in main Class.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Enter code for initialization and user input of above variables using Scanner.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Code Till Now :-</p>
<pre><code class="language-java">package planning;
import java.util.Scanner;
public class Planning {
String goal;
String[] initial_states;
String[] actions;
public static void main(String[] args) {
Planning p = new Planning();
p.run();
}
void run() {
Scanner ent = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("*** Planning Problem ***");
int n;
System.out.print("Enter Goal : ");
goal = ent.next();
System.out.print("Enter number of Initial States : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
initial_states = new String[n];
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
initial_states[i] = ent.next();
}
System.out.print("Enter number of Actions : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
actions = new String[n];
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
actions[i] = ent.next();
}
}
}
</code></pre>
<h2>Notes</h2>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Notice that to use the "public" variables, I had to create a new method run inside the main class; since static variables cannot be accessed from a non-static context.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The arrays of initial_states and actions aren't pre-defined. Thus, we have to initialize them at runtime, depending on the number of inputs expected, as provided by the user. This is an essential step since our program can solve ANY problem, thus the States and Actions cannot be predefined, as they vary for each problem.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p><em>Rest of the code continued in Part 2.</em></p>
Planning Problem Part 22015-12-24T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/Planning-Problem-Part-2/<p><em>So, in the last post, we left of with a bit of code that took input for initial_states, actions and a goal. Here on, we will be adding and modifying the same code. Just a warning, it might get too complicated for those who are not familiar with coding. So, let's go.</em></p>
<h3>Now we need code to input Conditions and Effect for each Action. But how to initialize arrays of those for each Action, and then bind them to that Action so that they could be linked during the processing?</h3>
<p>What I did was to create a new Class OnAction and defined String arrays of Conditions and Effects inside, along with the ability (see Method act() ) to take input (similar to previous arrays).</p>
<p>Code Snippet -</p>
<pre><code class="language-java">class OnAction {
String[] effects;
String[] conditions;
void act() {
Scanner ent = new Scanner(System.in);
int n;
System.out.print(" Enter number of Conditions : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
conditions = new String[n];
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
System.out.print(" Enter Condition " + i + " : ");
conditions[i] = ent.next();
}
System.out.print(" Enter number of Effects : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
effects = new String[n];
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
System.out.print(" Enter Effect " + i + " : ");
effects[i] = ent.next();
}
}
}
</code></pre>
<p>Next, I defined an array of Objects for Class OnAction and initialized it based on the number of Actions provided by the user. Then, for each Action input, I called on OnAction Object so that corresponding Conditions and Effects materialized. Pretty cool huh?</p>
<p>Code Snippet -</p>
<pre><code class="language-java">public class Planning {
...
OnAction a[];
...
void run() {
...
System.out.print("\nEnter number of Actions : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
a = new OnAction[n];
actions = new String[n];
...
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
System.out.print("\n Enter action " + i + " : ");
actions[i] = ent.next();
System.out.println(" For " + actions[i]);
a[i] = new OnAction();
a[i].act();
}
...
}
</code></pre>
<p>So there we have it, a long darn code just to take a lot of input. As the code currently stands, we can input n number of initial_states, actions, corresponding conditions & effects, and finally, a goal. Yes! With all our inputs in place, now we move to the processing part; the core of our program.</p>
<p>Recall our algorithm (Part 1), We start with the Goal and compare it with the Effects of all Actions. The code would be similar to comparing 2 strings. Let's see how it's done.</p>
<p>First, loop through all the Actions (since our Effects are bound to Actions). Since we don't know the size of Actions array before hand, we use the array.length method to find it at run time. Then, for actions i, we have m effects, which we loop through one by one and check if any equals our Goal.</p>
<p>Code snippet -</p>
<pre><code class="language-java"> int n = actions.length;
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
int m = a[i].effects.length;
for (int j = 0; j < m; j++) {
if (goal.equals(a[i].effects[j])) {
break; //break out of loop when a match is found.
}
}
}
</code></pre>
<p>So now, assume we've hit upon an Effect that equals our Goal, what next? Well, just follow the Algorithm -</p>
<p>If a match is found, save the Actions on Stack and Check the Conditions. Now, instead of using stack, I just used another array, and printed it backwards. Neat trick eh? Hehe, moving on. Define your String array of solutions as a global variable in Planning Class, then save Action i that has an Effect j matching with our Goal into the solutions array.</p>
<p>Code snippet -</p>
<pre><code class="language-java">public class Planning {
...
String[] solution;
...
int n = actions.length;
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
int m = a[i].effects.length;
for (int j = 0; j < m; j++) {
if (goal.equals(a[i].effects[j])) {
solution[c] = actions[i];
c += 1;
break;
}
}
}
...
}
</code></pre>
<p>So now, to check the conditions. We have to check ALL the conditions (unlike Effects, which we loop through only until a hit is found) and see if the Condition is an initial one or an Effect of any other Action. This process continues till we hit upon all Conditions being initial_states, until then, we loop through the Actions. Something beautiful struck your mind? Hell yea, Recursion!</p>
<p>So now, our above code snippet is optimal to check for looping through Actions and checking each Effect; we just change the Goal to the Condition we are searching for. Also, to loop through Conditions, we don't need additional code; we can fit it right into our earlier snippet. To check in a Condition is in initial_states, i wrote another method named initial.</p>
<p>Code snippet -</p>
<pre><code class="language-java"> void find() {
int n = actions.length;
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
int m = a[i].effects.length;
int o = a[i].conditions.length;
for (int j = 0; j < m; j++) {
if (goal.equals(a[i].effects[j])) {
solution[c] = actions[i];
c += 1;
for (int k = 0; k < o; k++) {
if (!initial(a[i].conditions[k])) {
goal = a[i].conditions[k];
find();
}
}
break;
}
}
}
}
boolean initial(String s) {
for (int i = 0; i < initial_states.length; i++) {
if (s.equals(initial_states[i])) {
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
</code></pre>
<p>So, there we have it, a neat way to implement our algorithm. The output of this will be an array of solutions consisting of sequence of actions required to complete the goal given the initial_states.</p>
<p>BUT WAIT! Where is the code to print the output, you ask? Well, here it is -</p>
<pre><code class="language-java"> void show() {
System.out.println("\n\nOutput Sequencce : ");
for (int i = solution.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
if(solution[i] != null) {
System.out.println(solution[i]);
}
}
}
</code></pre>
<p>Now, you can link these methods through each other, or just call them one after other from the main using Object p. Also, note that I've used if(solution[i] != null) condition while printing. This is because, our solutions array is initialized with the size of actions, but a Goal may require fewer Actions than those given by the user, which means rest of the values in solutions would be null. To avoid printing null, I've added that condition. Also, check out the order in which the results are getting printed. They go Forward, from initial_states actions linking to the Goal.</p>
<p>For those stubborn enough to have read till here and wish for more pain... well, here is my entire code for ya'll kindred spirits ;)</p>
<pre><code class="language-java">/*
*Class Planning is a simulation on Total
*Order Planning Problem solution
*using backward chaining technique.
*/
package planning;
import java.util.Scanner;
/**
*
* @author Pritesh
*/
public class Planning {
String goal;
String[] initial_states;
String[] actions;
String[] solution;
OnAction a[];
int c = 0;
public static void main(String[] args) {
Planning p = new Planning();
p.run();
p.find();
p.show();
System.out.print("\n\n*** END ***\n");
System.exit(0);
}
void run() {
Scanner ent = new Scanner(System.in);
int n;
System.out.println("*** Planning Problem ***");
System.out.print("Enter number of Initial States : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
initial_states = new String[n];
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
System.out.print(" Enter Initial States " + i + " : ");
initial_states[i] = ent.next();
}
System.out.print("\nEnter number of Actions : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
a = new OnAction[n];
actions = new String[n];
solution = new String[n];
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
System.out.print("\n Enter action " + i + " : ");
actions[i] = ent.next();
System.out.println(" For " + actions[i]);
a[i] = new OnAction();
a[i].act();
}
System.out.print("\nEnter Goal : ");
goal = ent.next();
}
void find() {
int n = actions.length;
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
int m = a[i].effects.length;
int o = a[i].conditions.length;
for (int j = 0; j < m; j++) {
if (goal.equals(a[i].effects[j])) {
solution[c] = actions[i];
c += 1;
for (int k = 0; k < o; k++) {
if (!initial(a[i].conditions[k])) {
goal = a[i].conditions[k];
find();
}
}
break;
}
}
}
}
boolean initial(String s) {
for (int i = 0; i < initial_states.length; i++) {
if (s.equals(initial_states[i])) {
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
void show() {
System.out.println("\n\nOutput Sequencce : ");
for (int i = solution.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
if (solution[i] != null) {
System.out.println(solution[i]);
}
}
}
}
class OnAction {
String[] effects;
String[] conditions;
void act() {
Scanner ent = new Scanner(System.in);
int n;
System.out.print(" Enter number of Conditions : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
conditions = new String[n];
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
System.out.print(" Enter Condition " + i + " : ");
conditions[i] = ent.next();
}
System.out.print(" Enter number of Effects : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
effects = new String[n];
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
System.out.print(" Enter Effect " + i + " : ");
effects[i] = ent.next();
}
}
}
</code></pre>
<p><em>I leave the output to you all. Since this program solves any type of planning problem, you can find popular problems on the net or even create your own. Just give it a spin and let me know how you fare. Cheers!</em></p>
JSON Manipulation In Java2016-04-03T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/JSON-Manipulation-in-java/<h2>Prerequisites :</h2>
<ol>
<li>An IDE (I'm doing in Netbeans v8.1)</li>
<li>json simple jar
(Download at http://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.googlecode.json-simple/json-simple/1.1.1)</li>
<li>Patience</li>
</ol>
<h2>Problem Statement :</h2>
<p>The example I've used is extraction of info from Twitter Data-set that was in json format. This is a program similar to a mini project that I once did. The program crawls through each tweet and extracts following entities:</p>
<ol>
<li>Hashtags</li>
<li>Place name</li>
<li>Follower Count</li>
<li>Screen Name</li>
</ol>
<p>These entities are stored in linked-lists and copies of these linked lists are used for processing and information retrieval which consists of :</p>
<ol>
<li>Top n Hashtags that have been tweeted.</li>
<li>Top n Places from where the users have tweeted.</li>
<li>Top n Users (Screen Name) that have most Follower Count</li>
</ol>
<p>Where n is User Defined at Run-Time.</p>
<h2>Code Explanation :</h2>
<h3>Setup</h3>
<p>a. In Netbeans, create a new project and add the jar file by right clicking on "Libraries" and then "Add Jar"</p>
<p>b. import following -</p>
<pre><code class="language-java">import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import org.json.simple.*;
import org.json.simple.parser.*;
</code></pre>
<p>Note :- I won't be explaining the entire code, but just for the hashtag parameter. Rest is easily understandable.</p>
<h3>Create a new JSON Parser object along with variables for parameter processing -</h3>
<pre><code class="language-java">JSONParser parser = new JSONParser();
LinkedList<String> hashtags = new LinkedList();
ArrayList<Integer> count_hash = new ArrayList();
String topHashtags[];
int topHashtagsCount[];
</code></pre>
<h3>Input your file into the parser (File must be filename.json i.e. in pure json format)</h3>
<pre><code class="language-java">JSONArray a = (JSONArray) parser.parse(new FileReader("src\\bdaminiproject\\twitterData.json"));
</code></pre>
<p>Note :- I've initialized a JSONArray to parse the file because all my tweets are objects inside an array.
Like this - [ {tweet1}, {tweet2}, {tweet3}, ..., {tweetn} ]</p>
<p>Your json may be just an object instead of array, adjust accordingly.</p>
<h3>Now, for each tweet inside the array, create a new JSONObject of the tweet so as to access the information inside.</h3>
<pre><code class="language-java">for (Object o : a) {
JSONObject x = (JSONObject) o;
...
}
</code></pre>
<h3>Now, to extract information, we must know the structure of our object. My tweet object is like this (note that text is italics is modified to protect privacy) -</h3>
<pre><code class="language-json">{
....
"user": {
...
"screen_name": "XYZ",
....
"followers_count": 495,
....
},
...
"place": {
...
"name": "PQR",
...
},
...
"entities": {
"hashtags": ["text" : "hashtag", "text": "hashtag_2"],
...
},
...
}
</code></pre>
<p>So, "hashtags" is an array of values inside object "entities" inside each tweet object x.</p>
<h3>Extract each hashtag and store it in the linked list while adding a new count in arraylist. If the list already contains the hashtag, then increment the corresponding count in arraylist. Given that neither "entities" nor "hashtags" is null.</h3>
<pre><code class="language-java">if (x.get("entities") != null) {
JSONObject entity = (JSONObject) x.get("entities");
if (entity.get("hashtags") != null) {
JSONArray hashtag = (JSONArray) entity.get("hashtags");
for (Object obj : hashtag) {
JSONObject y = (JSONObject) obj;
hash = (String) y.get("text");
if (hashtags.contains(hash)) {
int index = hashtags.indexOf(hash);
count_hash.set(index, count_hash.get(index) + 1);
} else {
hashtags.addLast(hash);
count_hash.add(1);
}
}
}
}
</code></pre>
<p>a. x = tweet object => x.get("entities") means get entities object from x
b. create a new JSONObject of "entities"
c. entity = entities object => entity.get("hashtags") means get hashtags array from entity
d. create a new JSONArray of "hashtags"
e. create a JSONObject y of each "text" and get its value using y.get("text"); notice the casting.
f. if the value doesn't exist, add it to linkedlist and add a count to arraylist
g. if the value exists, find its index in linkedlist and increment the corresponding index in arraylist.</p>
<h3>To display top n hastags, get user input for n and initialize the above declared top arrays to value n.</h3>
<pre><code class="language-java">System.out.print("\nGet top n Hashtags, set n to : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
topHashtagsCount = new int[n];
topHashtags = new String[n];
</code></pre>
<h3>Create copies of hashtag and count lists as new linkedlists l and arraylist a</h3>
<pre><code class="language-java">LinkedList l = new LinkedList();
l.addAll(hashtags Linkedlist);
ArrayList a = new ArrayList();
a.addAll(count Arraylist);
</code></pre>
<p>for iterations from 0 to n (Since top n)
a. Get index of max value in arraylist a, add it to topHashtagsCount
b. Get corresponding indexed item (hashtag) from linkedlist l, add it to topHashtags.
c. remove values corresponding to that index from both a and l</p>
<h3>Display arrays topHashtags and topHashtagsCount from 0 to n</h3>
<p>That's all folks.. Simple, right? ;)</p>
<p>To those who just want the code, here it is :</p>
<p>Code :-</p>
<pre><code class="language-java">package bdaminiproject;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import org.json.simple.*;
import org.json.simple.parser.*;
/**
*
* @author Pritesh
*/
public class tweet {
JSONParser parser = new JSONParser();
long total = 0;
LinkedList<String> hashtags = new LinkedList();
ArrayList<Integer> count_hash = new ArrayList();
LinkedList<String> placename = new LinkedList();
ArrayList<Integer> count_place = new ArrayList();
LinkedList<String> username = new LinkedList();
ArrayList<String> count_follower = new ArrayList();
String topHashtags[];
int topHashtagsCount[];
String topPlaces[];
int topPlacesCount[];
String topUsers[];
int topFollowersCount[];
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("\n\n\t\t\t*** TWITTER BDA MINI PROJECT ***\n");
tweet t = new tweet();
t.run();
t.display();
System.out.println("\n\n\t\t\t\t--- END ---\n");
System.exit(0);
}
void run() {
System.out.println("Loading Data, Please Wait...");
try {
JSONArray a = (JSONArray) parser.parse(new FileReader("src\\bdaminiproject\\twitterData.json"));
System.out.print("Data Loaded, Crawling throught it...");
String hash;
String city;
for (Object o : a) {
JSONObject x = (JSONObject) o;
total++;
if (x.get("entities") != null) {
JSONObject entity = (JSONObject) x.get("entities");
if (entity.get("hashtags") != null) {
JSONArray hashtag = (JSONArray) entity.get("hashtags");
for (Object obj : hashtag) {
JSONObject y = (JSONObject) obj;
hash = (String) y.get("text");
if (hashtags.contains(hash)) {
int index = hashtags.indexOf(hash);
count_hash.set(index, count_hash.get(index) + 1);
} else {
hashtags.addLast(hash);
count_hash.add(1);
}
}
}
}
if (x.get("place") != null) {
JSONObject place = (JSONObject) x.get("place");
if (place.get("name") != null) {
city = (String) place.get("name");
if (placename.contains(city)) {
int index = placename.indexOf(city);
count_place.set(index, count_place.get(index) + 1);
} else {
placename.addLast(city);
count_place.add(1);
}
}
}
if (x.get("user") != null) {
JSONObject user = (JSONObject) x.get("user");
if (user.get("followers_count") != null) {
if (!username.contains((String) user.get("name"))) {
username.add((String) user.get("name"));
count_follower.add(user.get("followers_count").toString());
}
}
}
}
} catch (IOException | ParseException e) {
}
}
void getMax(int n, ArrayList aa, LinkedList la, int flag) {
LinkedList l = new LinkedList();
l.addAll(la);
ArrayList a = new ArrayList();
a.addAll(aa);
int t = 0;
int temp = 0, max, index = 0;
if (n > a.size()) {
System.out.println("n is greater tha array size, exiting...");
System.exit(0);
}
while (t < n) {
max = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < a.size(); i++) {
if (flag == 3) {
temp = Integer.parseInt((String) a.get(i));
} else {
temp = (int) a.get(i);
}
if (temp > max) {
max = temp;
}
}
if (flag == 3) {
String in = Integer.toString(max);
index = a.indexOf(in);
} else {
index = a.indexOf(max);
}
switch (flag) {
case 1:
topHashtagsCount[t] = (int) max;
topHashtags[t] = (String) l.get(index);
break;
case 2:
topPlacesCount[t] = (int) max;
topPlaces[t] = (String) l.get(index);
break;
case 3:
topUsers[t] = (String) l.get(index);
topFollowersCount[t] = (int) max;
default:
break;
}
l.remove(index);
a.remove(index);
t++;
}
}
void display() {
Scanner ent = new Scanner(System.in);
int n = 1;
System.out.println("DONE");
System.out.println("\nTotal Tweets Analyzed = " + total + "\n");
while (n != 0) {
System.out.println("\n\nTop Categories.... ");
System.out.print("\nGet top n Hashtags, set n to : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
topHashtagsCount = new int[n];
topHashtags = new String[n];
getMax(n, count_hash, hashtags, 1);
System.out.println("\n\n\t# Hashtag --> Count\n");
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
System.out.println("\t" + (i + 1) + ". " + topHashtags[i] + " --> " + topHashtagsCount[i]);
}
System.out.print("\nGet top n Places, set n to : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
topPlacesCount = new int[n];
topPlaces = new String[n];
getMax(n, count_place, placename, 2);
System.out.println("\n\n\t# Place --> Count\n");
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
System.out.println("\t" + (i + 1) + ". " + topPlaces[i] + " --> " + topPlacesCount[i]);
}
System.out.print("\nGet top n Users with most Followers, set n to : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
topFollowersCount = new int[n];
topUsers = new String[n];
getMax(n, count_follower, username, 3);
System.out.println("\n\n\t# Users --> Followers_Count\n");
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
System.out.println("\t" + (i + 1) + ". " + topUsers[i] + " --> " + topFollowersCount[i]);
}
System.out.print("\nEnter 0 to Exit, 1 to Re-Enter Top Categories : ");
n = ent.nextInt();
}
}
}
</code></pre>
Time Travel2016-07-28T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/Time-Travel/<p><em>Yesterday I saw a game/movie called "Quantum Break" on YouTube and I was hooked till the end. It revolves around a literal "End of Time" scenario with main characters having strange superhuman abilities and has time travel thrown in the mix. It was pretty exciting to watch, and as good movies (or games) tend to have that lasting effect, I kept on thinking about the "how" and "what-if's" of the concept until I slept. This post contains a few of my thoughts concerning the entire episode that I thought I'd share with you guys. I am in no way an expert in this field, just a wide-eyed kid with too much free time on his hands :) So, I present to you : In My Honest Opinion - Time Travel.</em></p>
<p>Whenever we talk of time travel, the word "Paradox" always crops up somewhere. Merriam-Webster defines Paradox as "an argument that apparently derives self-contradictory conclusions by valid deduction from acceptable premises" We'll visit this word soon enough.</p>
<p>So, Time Travel. Let us say that time is divided in 3 distinct parts - Past, Present and Future. (Some may say present is also past, but that is an argument for another time - no pun intended :p). Time usually follows a linear fashion, with present being our window of actions. This windows flows linearly in a consistent manner which is measured with units like Seconds, Minutes, Hours etc. When someone goes "out" of this window into the past or the future, that someone is said to have traveled through time. Simple enough? Then let's dive further into the intricacies of time travel.</p>
<h2>The Past</h2>
<p>Consider the first part of time - The Past. Say you have traveled into the past. But what would happen if you do something that hadn't happened before, in the original past? There are several theories that sprout from here. One theory suggests that whatever changes you make would just result in formation of a New Timeline. (Think Back to the Future or X-Men - Days of the Future Past) This means that an ENTIRE UNIVERSE is formed, a fully refreshed future that accommodates for the changes you made. But the question then arises, what would happen to you in the future of other timeline? You would've just vanished. Which is against the law of conservation of mass (assuming the universe is an Isolated System). Maybe the old timeline universe ceases to exist, but if that is so, then how could you have possibly traveled back to the past since you didn't exist there? That my friends, is a paradox. Let's put a pin on New Timeline theory for now.</p>
<p>Another theory suggests that whatever you do, you've already done. Yeah, seems a bit heavy, right? But it actually makes a little more sense; and also becomes scary/hopeless at the same time. See, whatever the future holds, it is fixed. In other words, Been There Done That theory says that time cannot be altered. You may go back in the past and raise a pandemonium, but those actions would result in the exact consequences that form the future you come from. (Think Predestination or HP - Prisoner of Azkaban) The one caveat in this theory is "how did it all START?" Say, in Present P, a person X comes from the Future F and warns his P-self not to eat today's pasta as it could upset his stomach. P-self goes on with his day, doesn't eat the pasta and at F, goes back in the past to send the warning. The loop is complete, no problem here. But what about the FIRST X? Did he eat the pasta and had a bad day? Not possible since it results in a Paradox again (events in time cannot be altered). WHO came and warned HIM if he was the FIRST? Quite a predicament...</p>
<p>Finally we have the theory which suggests that when you go back in the past, you do so in an Ethereal form. Like a ghost - but much less scary. What Ethereal theory says that you are basically an Audience with a fully 360 view of Reality, as it was. Since you cannot interact with anything, there is no question of a paradox, although it does raise the question of the state of matter forming your body. Or perhaps you just enter with your "consciousness"? That would take us in the realms of meta-physics of soul and mind which is quite interesting in it's own aspect, but not directly related to the topic at hand. Assuming you could gain such an Audience-type Form, the Ethereal theory makes sense.</p>
<p>Besides from these theories, we have others, like one suggesting that when you travel to the past, you actually just jump to ANOTHER timeline in a vast array of Multiverses (probably infinite). We will talk about Possible Past time travel later on.</p>
<h2>The Future</h2>
<p>We all would like to know the Future. Until we do.</p>
<p>Those words hold a powerful sentiment. I'm not sure where I saw/heard those words, but they have become stuck in my brain. Say you travel to the future and saw your dog die. Coming back to the present with knowledge of his death would naturally make you do things that would avoid that possibility. BUT... what if your actions in the present are what really triggers the death of your dog? You don't know. You do something and it kills your dog - you live with his blood on your hands. You do nothing and it kills your dog - you forever regret not doing anything. You'd wish you hadn't traveled to the future ("Until we do"). This Absolute Future theory is a lot similar to the BTDT theory of Past and also avoids paradoxes.</p>
<p>But not all theories are so grim and hopeless. A Possible Future theory suggests that what you see is just a possibility of what can be. It can be changed. You saw you Dog dying and you took measure to prevent his death, which worked. The future you saw was based on the state of Universe at the point of time in which you traveled, so in the Past when your other self travels to the future he/she would see the same future of your Dog dying. This means there is no paradox here. But then, it also means that whatever future you see, isn't really going to happen. Every time you see it, it changes. Unless the future you see is from another universe, which goes similar to the jumping between timelines of Possible Past theory. Oh well, as long it saves the Dog ;)</p>
<h2>Multi - verse Theory</h2>
<p>Remember the Possible Past theory? Well, that (and Possible Future Theory too) assumes that there are many other universes similar to ours (probably infinite) but with a few changes in events here and there (See Injustice - Gods among Us). And these Multiverses aren't isolated from each other but are somehow connected via "tunnels" through which exchange of certain primitive matter and energies takes place. (Think Worm-Holes) Unfortunately as of now, I have just enough understanding for this theory that I can think of time travel from it's perspective. But to comprehend true Infinity? I believe Human Beings aren't capable of it. I know I ain't.</p>
<p>Anyways, now that you have a (say, an infinite) number of timelines with all possibilities existing together (Yes, it even happens on a quantum scale everywhere!), whenever you travel through time, you just jump into another timeline, a timeline where whatever changes you've made have been accommodated for and the future is not affected irrespective of what you do or don't do. If so, then what parameters determine that you travel to such a timeline? You'd have to know what you're going to do before hand, which is not possible; Then what base does this theory has? Probably... Probability? The Universe behaves in extremely strange ways, more so at the Quantum Level, and there's sooooo much that we simply don't know.</p>
<h2>My Opinion</h2>
<p>As far as I can assume, the multiple timeline theory holds true in many aspects where others do not. Our reality is fraught with uncertainties and anything "Absolute" in primitive perspective is a mere possibility with highest chance of occurring. So the "Possible Past/Future" Theories of Time Travel could also mean you travel through vastness of space into other universes... Unless all universes are superimposed upon each other. That'd be something, eh? Guess we'll never know. All I know is that I had a lot of fun dreaming away about the exciting consequences of such unconventional travel, and I hope you guys had as much fun reading my amateurish view on same. I'd love to know your take on this matter, so feel free to comment down below. Until Next Time. Cheers.</p>
What we deserve2016-11-21T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/What-we-deserve/<p>There I was trying to catch a wink - that seemed to have vanished as soon as I hit the bed, when as usual the brain started throwing up unfathomable imaginary sceneries. I have learnt the hard way the vainness of trying to stop this - the more you try, the harder it drives; instead, I tried to steer the process towards more "down-to-earth" issues.</p>
<p>I have been coveting a certain position for myself this past month or so. This desire was where I tuned my brain towards and soon enough I was up to my neck in thoughts of "what-ifs", you know how it goes. The important point here is that I was at this fork where I was wondering what would be the best course of action if I lost to a derelict fate the desired status quo of my future. To keep working at it or Be content with what I have.</p>
<p>Yes, this world is very polarizing. We come across experiences that enables us to form our opinions. And as such, each person usually has different opinions and perspectives on a matter. In my case, it was the Star Wars series. Like any impressionable young guy out there, after watching them movies, I took it in my heart to be like a Jedi. More importantly, there was this specific assertment that I was in awe of and found sagity inside - "If you're afraid to lose something, let it go". Now, I admit I've never actually applied this in practice, but still it lingered in the recesses of my mind and "poured forth" when I was stuck upon this fork. But it wasn't the only thing that came forth - it's never so simple, is it?</p>
<p>Relying on technology to connect with age old quirky friend, I put forth my predicament. She was of the opinion that "Never Giving Up" is the only way through - ALWAYS. I was a bit skeptical about this, so I presented a couple of scenarios where-in that approach would result in disastrous consequences. She countered with her own hypothesis - i realized that, she was applying her own approach of Never Giving Up on me in this discussion itself. Although it didn't leave me thoroughly convinced, it did leave a mark where I thought this approach could work in certain situations. So yeah, this thought too poured in, along with the aforementioned.</p>
<p>When I voiced my concerns to my room-mate, he had some opinions of his own. He said, and I quote "We get what we deserve". I was astounded - who decides what we deserve? He retorted that our actions determine that, to which I said, in not so polite words, "My dear friend, my actions are the exact thing we are trying to plan here" He kept his stand on the "deserving" thing, which I thought could have some shred of viability to it; but NOT in the way he proposed. It seemed too primitive, too easy a way out. After considerable discussions, enough to drive his sleep away too, we came to an agreement on a theory that I believe provides a not-so-easy-but-probably-right way out.</p>
<p>Know these terms - "Pre-deserve", "Accept", "Post-deserve". Here I put forth the theory in these terms that seemed to make sense to my sleep-deprived brain.</p>
<p>At the initial stage, based on your talent and actions hitherto, you have a pre-disposition to achieve your "Pre-deserve" state. For example, if you're good at table tennis, better than anyone in your class then you pre-deserve to be on the team before anyone else from your class is considered. But does it mean you deserve to play in the State-level clashes? I think not. This is where the "Accept" part comes in, which you either do or you don't. If you follow my old friend's philosophy of "never giving up", and continue to take actions in honing your talent, then at some point, you will definitely deserve to be in the State-level matches. This state is "Post-deserve" state. Now the question is, at what point do you just "Accept" instead of "Never Giving Up". That, my friend, is quite simple. When you're happy, "accept" it. Now, there is considerable difference between being content and being happy - but this post isn't about that; It is about an approach to face conundrums, and I guess I've just given you the master key.</p>
<p>As I presented this to my room-mate with same flourish as I do to you now, he snorted and said "Can I sleep now?" I guess when some people just don't see the lock, what's the point of showing them a key? I plan to enlighten the old friend I mentioned before, yet I fear she's too into the "never giving up" approach to ever give up convincing me otherwise. It may not late for her still, as I hope it isn't for you too.</p>
<p>See, there is no one process which can solve all your problems. It's usually an intermix of this and that, which is what I've tried to do and - ironically - create one cohesive process that can solve all problems. Yet, I'll reiterate, I have yet to fully apply this in person. I did reach the "post-deserved" state and achieve the goal I coveted, but this circular has re-initiated. I haven't yet "accepted" and probably won't for a long time to come. But when I do, I hope I'll be Happy. I will then close the issue and rightly consider this theory to go down as a Universal Law. Well, a guy can dream. Anyway, I hope you gleaned some such from my rattlings, or if you're someone like my room-mate who after encountering such a philosophy tends to snore (in his defense, he does so only when he's sleepy), I'm glad I was instrumental in helping you catch that ever-so-elusive wink. Cheerio.</p>
Greed - Evolution on a psychological level2017-03-13T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/Greed-Evolution-on-psychological-level/<p><em>My intent behind writing this post is to offer a perspective on the role "greed" plays in the larger picture of human kind and how it may have evolved into what we know it as today. I must admit I am no expert on these matters and implore you to take this with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did while writing it. Without further ado, let's dive into : In my honest opinion - Greed (Evolution on a psychological level).</em></p>
<p>Wikipedia defines greed as - <strong>an inordinate or insatiable longing src</strong></p>
<p>For our purposes, we will not classify greed into categories of money and power as we know it in real world but on a deeper level of any tangible and intangible acquisition that can be viewed as selfish from a certain perspective. It may sound a mouthful, but fret not, I'll clarify on it later on.</p>
<p>Evolution, on the other hand, is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. src</p>
<p>Well, now that we have the definitions out of the way, let's get into the very question that led me to write this post : <strong>WHY ARE HUMANS GREEDY?</strong></p>
<p>First off, not all of us are greedy (eh, maybe just less than others). This is not meant as an insult. If we are greedy, we are. The question is WHY? I have yet to find an instance of greediness in the animal kingdom. Yes, they compete for food, territory and hierarchy but that is plain survival or reproduction strategy. Greed in humans goes way beyond the requirements of either.</p>
<p>As I've mentioned before, we shall classify greed as any tangible or intangible acquisition that can be viewed as selfish. Thus, including money and power, it can extend to absolutely any situation of selfish hoarding/collection. For example, say a professor is so much into his subject that he voraciously gains knowledge of every bit of information regarding that subject from all available sources (and not entirely to teach his students). This is an intangible acquisition and is usually not classified as "greed" but in our case, it is.</p>
<p>So, in all of the animal kingdom, only humans have evolved to be greedy in their nature. What makes us so unique to have developed such an apparently destructive trait? Well, blame our big brains!</p>
<p>Evolution has seen us develop larger and larger brains. Our technological advances over the last 100,000 years has seen us settle down, grow empires, wage wars, land on moon and what not! But the one thing that has been haunting us throughout the ages has been a simple question - why do we exist? Our big brains demanded a "purpose" for our existence. Simple animal instincts of survival and reproduction weren't enough. We needed something that defined us, something that separated us from others, something that made us unique, something grandiose! Where do you think religion comes from? Where do you think greed comes from?</p>
<p>Is greed an evolutionary development to balance out the side-effects of our larger brain size? This was the solution I found most satisfactory. Think of it over a span of several thousand generations, where we subconsciously questioned our very existence! Nature had to play in and give us something more than just the instinct to survive. And we wholeheartedly swept ourselves bit by bit into the notion.</p>
<p>"What is your point?" you may ask. My point is : Greed is ingrained in human evolution on a psychological level. See, if this is true, it means that evolution is not just a biological phenomenon (I admit changes in brain are biological in nature, but I'm talking about the psychological changes here). And that greed was, at some point of time, essential for our existence. That may contradict the current trend of what greed does to a society, and it should. Things always change with time, and we as humans have an uncanny ability to imagine and visualize those things from various perspectives. This is the gift we have as humans with "big brains", and although it comes with its share of "side-effects", the case itself stands that we can consciously change who we are and how we are.</p>
<p>So, that was my view on "why humans are greedy". What do you think? Leave a comment down below. Cheers!</p>
Who YOU are...2017-03-29T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/Who-YOU-are/<p><em>The title of this post represents the epitome of human understanding of self, or the lack thereof... outside of the purpose of our existence. Here, I try to present what I have learnt about my own self that I believe is generic to everyone... including you. So are you ready to dive deep into yourself? If so, let's proceed.</em></p>
<p>A couple of months earlier, I came across a book. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the name or it's author but the gist of it was that you are separate from your thoughts. In short, your thoughts DO NOT come entirely from you! I was highly intrigued by this suggestion; for I've always known that our bodies are mere vessels of our mind, and our thoughts represent who we are at the core. Suddenly, I decided to dig deeper, to observe my own mind... and guess what? The book was right. But I do not expect you to understand it based on a paragraph or just take my word for it. I want you to KNOW it, to FEEL it... to see yourself as a different being from both your body and mind; for that, just do this simple experiment whenever you have a free moment. Just OBSERVE your thoughts.</p>
<p>I tried this experiment for the month following my "enlightenment". Soon, I came to understand that most of the thoughts that came forth were total useless sludge. Sometimes, a catchy tune got stuck in a loop. Other times, I got caught up in "what-if's" of past events... how I could've change the conversation if I had thought of this and that. And several other thoughts were mere fantasies of future and worries that might never materialize. So caught up in these unproductive thoughts our mind is, that we sometime identify ourselves with those thoughts. But this, my friend, is just sludge. I've come to realize that our brain is very powerful machine that must always keep on churning thoughts to keep itself sharp. But it becomes counterproductive when these thoughts are worth nothing. Try it, I can bet anything that if you just observe even for a day, you'll realize how much of these sludgy thoughts you really have.</p>
<p>It matters not why we have these thoughts, that is not the point of this post. What matters is - how is this relevant to your true self? The book I read was mum on that point, so the spend the rest of the next month thinking about who I actually am in this world. I never believed in a "Soul" or the spiritual aspects of it, but now I was thinking - what if our ancestors were actually correct? The reason I doubt most of the traditions is not because I believe that our forefathers were wrong, it is simply because the succeeding generations have taken out the core and replaced it with meaningless rituals that without the core are just social conventions. Anyhow, coming back to the soul, what if our ancestors were right? What if we really do have a soul? I was not going to just accept it without evidence (thus, avoiding the mistakes our predecessors did) and I went deeper into my own mind... and what do you know? I found myself!</p>
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<p>Let me explain what I found. Our mind, I sense it is made up of several layers. These are called as conscious, subconscious and unconscious layers. Our body and mind are deeply intertwined with each other but thoughts are a product of these 3 layers of minds only, not the body. Body and Mind communicate with each other on these levels. When it is body telling something, it does so usually to the unconscious mind while when your Mind tells something to the body, it is your conscious mind that does it. The subconsciousness works in duplex mode. The "reflexes" that you experience are work of your unconscious mind, body communicates these signals, like of sudden fear, without the inclusion of "thought", it just happens and is likely the result of evolution. This is also what me might call "the gut feeling" or "instinct". When times like you are hungry or thirsty, it is your body communicating with your mind... again. What is subconscious communication then? Well, remember that catchy song stuck in your head? Well, you heard it somewhere and now your subconscious mind is enjoying it to the fullest. Sometimes, you hum the tune even when you are not aware of it! Has it ever happened that you are reading something, and you suddenly find yourself on a line with no idea what you read before? That was your subconscious mind invading again. Subconscious mind is more removed from the body but in the end, it is still a slave to your body and mind. It will always try to invade your sense of self to make you feel more comfortable. That is the whole point! It exists to fill your mind with thoughts so you feel yourself identified with something. What exactly are you then? Well, if you haven't guess already... here is the answer : conscious mind!</p>
<p>That layer of your mind where you consciously decide on actions is what can be called as your soul. Don't confuse mind with the brain or with the soul. Your consciousness is who you are. Remember when I said that human mind always seeks identity? Well, we find ourselves in our thoughts BUT the issue is that our thoughts don't always come from our own self so we end up mistaking ourselves for whatever our subconscious feels comfortable with!</p>
<p>I can imagine you pulling your hair trying to understand what I've written... or you're dismissing this as ramblings of a guy with too much time on his hands. I can do no more than share my experience in the only way I can, but if you really, really wish to find you yourself... Do as I did - just observe your thoughts!</p>
<p>Create a room in your mind, with 4 people inside. 1 - Body, 2 - Subconscious, 3 - Unconscious, 4 - Conscious (YOU). Whenever you feel hungry, imagine it as Body speaking to Unconscious. Whenever you feel angry, imagine your Subconscious taking the floor. Again if you feel like you are trailing off on your train of thoughts - Subconscious. Remember, most of our emotions are sprouted from out subconsciousness. So whenever you act out of those without reason, it is your subconsciousness driving your body, not you. You are only you when the 4th person in the room has the floor. Trust me, it is not easy to have that person take over.</p>
<p>How do I measure my awareness of self? Another simple experiment. Just sit or lay down somewhere, without any distractions (no music too). Then, think and see the numbers from 1 to 100 in your mind, incrementing the count along with your breath. Simple? Ah well, the catch is that you cannot lose tract of your count (by letting the subconscious take over) or lose the vivid view of which number you are on currently. This is an experiment for your own sake. Most of the time what I experienced is that, while I keep on counting in the background, my mind moves on to other things, then suddenly I become aware of this intrusion and game over. At this point, you'll probably remember which number you lost track on, and that is the percentage at which your consciousness functions.</p>
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<p>What is the point of all this? Why am I sharing this with you? It is because a simple thought experiment can exponentially increase the quality of our living. It gives us an answer to questions we didn't even know we had!</p>
<p>Our consciousness is an extremely powerful being but nature wants us to remains a species still in the purview of the animal kingdom - and I'm not taking about physically. When you focus all of your conscious mind, you will feel the power that flows through you. I want to help you become a master of your own body and mind instead of the other way round. I confess, I am no expert myself, but I invite you, my friend, to go on this journey with me. The path now lies ahead of you, are you ready to take a step and find who YOU are?</p>
An Experiment2017-12-03T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/An-experiment/<p>I believe this is what they call free association writing - you just "start writing" without any idea of what you are going to write about. What am I writing about? I have no clue, hopefully though, I'll find a flow soon since writing a whole lot of stuff about nothing in particular is a peculiar way to expose your creativity. So, let me just note down some of the thoughts that run around in my head, like an empty train going from nothing to nowhere.</p>
<p>Existence is almost always the foremost issue in my mind. A reason, a meaning, an explanation... something? And it's not just my own presence that intrigues me - it's the existence of EVERYTHING! But right now, there is no need to get philosophical about this issue, since writing that sort of stuff takes a piece of your mind and here I'm just running my figurative pen off for the sake of this experiment.</p>
<p>Recently I've watched a couple of animes (I probably should've spent that time studying but eh) namely Naruto and One Piece. The latter is still ongoing. I find the "hero" figures of both stories viz Naruto & Luffy strikingly similar - especially their 2 traits. 1) They both have a cherished goal that they follow no matter what. 2) Their presence always positively affects the other characters (good AND bad) around them. Why am I talking about Japanese cartoons so suddenly? Well, besides the obvious reason that they popped into my head and I had to note it down, I believe they have a specific relation to the paragraph above. The fact that they have a goal to look forward to justifies their existence - especially so for Naruto. But the fact is that they are not doing it for themselves. Both protagonists thirst for acknowledgement from someone; that someone come and tell them their presence is not unnecessary. Although this is an emotional aspect of existence since human beings crave for acceptance in a social structure, it also goes on to show how/why they live they way they do/did.</p>
<p>Another thing that I've noticed very recently is that everyone and I mean EVERYONE, craves stories. Now, our conventional meaning of stories is a bit dumbed down, yet it applies to the hypothesis I'm speaking of. Sure, a book tells a story, so does a picture/photo. A painting, a song, a smell, a memory, our daily routine, hell people's lives are stories. History is a story, so is Geography - it tells us how/why the landscape is the way it is. Science, Math, Music, every where you see, a story is hidden in plain sight. What is the significance of it? It reveals a deep hidden quirk of human nature - one that is not quite obvious since it is not a natural characteristic of living beings; It is unique to humans. We like to "experience" things - from a simple song to a grand world tour, in the end, everything is a story. What you leave behind, aka a "legacy", is naught but a story.</p>
<p>Well, these were the top three things on my mind the last few minutes. I wrote them down the best I could, although I hear the way I write is pretty convoluted. I am working on it, fear not; and if you ask me what the point was of this whole thing? Well for me, it was a small experiment in free association writing - I've wanted to try it for ages now. For you? Well, I guess you have to find your own "moral of the story" :wink:. I have no explicit conclusion here; take it, leave it, shake it, stir it - it is what it is after all. What I do hope though, is that you could catch a few minutes of free time in your own whirlwind of thoughts, and maybe a smile on your lips as you reflect back to those quiet minutes. That would be more than enough for me to say that my experiment succeeded. Have a great day now, cheers!
Posted 3rd December 2017 by Pritesh Tupe</p>
Simple way to calculate the day for any date2018-01-17T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/Calculate-day-by-date/<p><em>Disclaimer : I found this method on YouTube; I merely wrote it down for convenience (so I can make a program someday) and thought I should share it with you all.</em></p>
<p><em>Here's the source : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=714LTMNJy5M">Video Link</a></em></p>
<h2>Prerequisites</h2>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Let Sunday = 0, Monday = 1 .... Saturday = 6</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Doomsdays -</p>
<p>The day shared by specific dates (day changes by year, dates remain same)</p>
<p>Jan/3(4th in Leap), Feb/28th (29th in leap), Mar/14th, Apr/4th ... can be written as</p>
<p>1/3(4), 2/28(29), 3/14, 4/4, 5/9, 6/6, 7/11, 8/8, 9/5, 10/10, 11/7, 12/12</p>
<p>For even months, it's same date as the month (expect Feb)
For Feb it's the last day (29 or 28 depending on leap or not)
For odd months : working 9/5 on 7/11 (reverse holds true), Pie 3/14, Jan is 3rd or 4th (Leap)</p>
<p>Eg : 2018's doomsdays are all Wednesdays</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Century Code -</p>
<p>In gregorian calendar, dates repeat every 400 years. so only 4 century codes possible/required</p>
<p>...
1500 1600 1700 1800
1900 2000 2100 2200
2300 2400 2500 2600
...</p>
<p>3(Wed) 2(Tue) 0(Sun) 5(Fri)</p>
<p>Eg : 2000's doomsday = Tuesday => 2000's code = 2</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h2>Algorithm</h2>
<p>Input = dd/mm/yyyy</p>
<ol>
<li>Century Code = I (from Prerequisite no 3)</li>
<li>00yy/12 = Quotient (M) + Remainder (R)</li>
<li>R/4 = Quotient (L) + Remainder</li>
<li>I + M + R + L = X</li>
<li>X/7 = Quotient + Remainder (D) (from Prerequisite no 1)</li>
<li>Y = date of doomsday for given mm (from Prerequisite no 2)</li>
<li>| dd - Y | / 7 = Quotient + Remainder (T)</li>
<li>(D + T) / 7 = Quotient + Remainder (Output/Answer)</li>
</ol>
<h2>Notes</h2>
<p>-> Variable assignment :
Quotient (A) + Remainder (B) means A = Quotient and B = Remainder</p>
<p>-> These variables represent fingers on the hand (for manual calculations) :
I = Index, M = Middle, R = Ring, L = Little, T = Thumb</p>
<p>-> All calculations involve whole numbers only</p>
<p>-> D stands for Doomsday; so named by the inventor of this method John H Conway</p>
<p>-> For more (visual) explanation, please refer to the video</p>
<h2>Examples</h2>
<p>Eg 1 : Day on 6th Dec 2030</p>
<ol>
<li>I = 2</li>
<li>30/12 = 2 + 5 => M = 2, R = 6</li>
<li>6/4 = 1 + 2 => P = 1</li>
<li>2 + 2 + 6 + 1 = 11 => X = 11</li>
<li>11/7 = 1 + 4 => D = 4 (Thursday)</li>
<li>Y = 12 (From mm = 12)</li>
<li>| 16 - 12 | / 7 = 0 + 4 => T = 4</li>
<li>(4 + 4) / 7 = 1 + 1 => Ans = 1 = Monday</li>
</ol>
<p>Eg 2 : Day on 23rd Sept 1105</p>
<ol>
<li>I = 3</li>
<li>5/12 = 0 + 5 => M = 0, R = 5</li>
<li>5/4 = 1 + 1 => P = 1</li>
<li>3 + 0 + 5 + 1 = 9 => X = 9</li>
<li>9/7 = 1 + 2 => D = 2 (Tue)</li>
<li>Y = 5</li>
<li>| 23 - 5 | / 7 = 1 + 4 => T = 4</li>
<li>(2 + 4) / 7 = 0 + 6 => Ans = 6 = Saturday</li>
</ol>
My trip to Amritsar & Shimla Part 12019-07-06T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/My-trip-to-Amritsar-and-Shimla-Part-1/<p><em>This June, I went on a trip to Amritsar & Shimla along with 3 of my college friends - Aakash, Shubham & Rishab. The plan had been in works since April and was technically our first long distance trip. This post is a recollection of the same, with a dash of opinionated perspective and meandering romanticism.</em></p>
<h2>Day 0</h2>
<p>We started off on the eve of 15th where we boarded Rajdhani Express around 5:30 pm. Supposed to reach Delhi at 8:45 the next day. The 3 of us were all allotted upper and middle seats (Shubham came by plane from Nagpur), but that was fine. Our fellow passengers were affable enough. The journey went fine, even the food was okay-ish, until it was time to sleep. Forget the fact that the bunk at the top was so close to ceiling that I was reminded of Will Smith in Men in Black. Forget the fact that that a/c switched on & off with such consistent frequency that I felt being dragged across Tundra & Mordor in a loop. The worst thing was the <strong>snores</strong>. A closeted ac compartment is like an echo chamber, and it seems I was blessed with a particularly noisy batch. That monologue was soon joined by Aakash & the "affable" fellow passenger and turned into a chorus. Yeah... I got no sleep that night.</p>
<h2>Day 1</h2>
<p>I "woke up" the next day, did the necessaries and offloaded myself at Delhi. Next task - find our car guy. We had booked a car in advance. But the guy was waiting at the "Rajiv chowk" metro station, which was <em>near</em> the Delhi station but far enough that we had a metro journey ahead of us. So, sub task - find the metro station. (Mind you, the metro station is underground, so while we had Google maps to show where it was supposed to be, we had no clue how to get in). However, it wasn't as hard as it seemed; presently, we found an entrance, got out tickets, got on the metro (yellow line, I think) and got off at the next stop. So yeah, near - but not really.</p>
<p>We did the document registration and other requirements, got our car (KUV 100) and waited for Shubham to arrive. Eventually he did, and then the monumental task of regrouping with him. He was at the airport & we were at Rajiv Chowk. We first thought we'd go pick him up, but Google maps showed a sludge of traffic. So we asked Shubham, the guy who'd never been to Delhi before, to come meet us at Rajiv chowk. First he said he'd be getting off at Delhi metro station (the one where we got on first) so we took our car and went there.. No issues, it was near enough. Then he said that he'd be getting off at Rajiv chowk itself. (This is how the conversation went from my perspective, he might tell a different story). No issues, we'll just go back to Rajiv chowk. Just one big damn circle to cover. Except there was an issue. The moment Shubham said Rajiv chowk, Aakash (our driver) turned the car around... And the police caught us. We had supposedly made an illegal turn. So we paid the fine and went on our way. We mistook Gate 7 of metro for Gate 1 from the outside (everything looked similar) and Shubham had to walk the entire way there. In any case, we were ready to go. And off we went - to Amritsar.</p>
<p>The road was quite good. It'd have been a straight shot had it not been for ongoing constructions now and then. Some patches were really bad. While Aakash took from Delhi to Haryana/Punjab Border, I took the wheel ahead. We had a leisurely drive (our speed by hard-capped at 80 km/hr). Nothing eventful occurred during the drive, except we made a wrong turn at one point, sped past the city and had to drive back. Man, if there's one thing I'll remember about the place, it's the damn congestion. I had to drive the car from alleys that I doubt were made for anything more than some foot traffic. Not to mention the elites had the great sense to park their vehicles in the middle to go for a quick shop. Somehow, I manage to park taking up just less than half the road in a different alley. You see, our hotel was smack dab in the middle of an alley junction where 3 narrow pathways met. Later on, we'd realise that the "parking" mentioned in the hotel was actually paid parking nearby, with minimum of 100 for the night. We might have even parked there, had we known about it then.</p>
<p>Either way, myself fatigued from the late night drive (I genuinely dislike driving at night, everyone from front and behind, wants to driving with upper on always - a note to drivers, please switch dipper if you see a car ahead), sleep deprived from last night, not to mention hungry, was past caring about parking. Went to the hotel, took a quick shower and was off for dinner at a place called "Kesar da dhaba" - a place serving food for over a century; it was recommended to Rishab. It had a long line to prove its popularity. We waited for 10-15 min and got inside. Perhaps I've taken for granted the tasty food and prompt service I get back home (I'm from Navi Mumbai), perhaps the dhaba was too crowded, or whatever be the reason, I was not satisfied. The cost, the wait, the hype... Not worth the food, both in quantity and quality. Rishab got a lot of slack for that from the rest of us. In any case, at least I wasn't hungry anymore. Soon, we made our was to the Golden Temple. We reached what looked like an entrance. Aakash was insistent that the main entrance was elsewhere (he'd been here before). I noticed people taking off their shoes and heading inside, and we decided that we'll head inside from there instead of searching for the "main" entrance.</p>
<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/golden_temple.jpg" alt="Golden Temple" /></p>
<p>I have visited the Sun Temple down south, and the Taj Mahal in Agra, some of the best places I've ever seen so far. I expected to get similar vibes from this place. Unfortunately, we were late (given dinner and all) and the inner sanctum was closed. So we simply made a round of the place. It looks quite good. I couldn't taste the 'langer', because we had had our dinner already. So we left, planning to come the next morning to get inside. I wouldn't say much about my experience there as I was simply in and out, didn't get the absorb the ambience well.</p>
<p>Did I tell you about the rooms we were in? Well, they were kind of okay. We had booked 2 rooms and us 4 split into 2 for each room. While they looked all good, for me, there was a big issue. I am not used to air conditioning, being fortunate enough to live in a place with natural flow of (sometimes) cold wind. There weren't any windows either, so no sunlight, no ventilation. I had another bad night in front of me.</p>
<h2>Day 2</h2>
<p>While I did get some sleep, I woke up with a raging head ache. Should've been obvious. Still, I wanted to get out of the room, so I refreshed and did just that. There wasn't a single car outside. We had breakfast in another dhaba. This one was Aakash's idea; this dhaba too was over 100 years old. Well anyway, we together got a masala dosa, onion utthapa and mix paratha. Let me tell you something; DO NOT order South Indian food in North India, and vice versa. The paratha was very good, and the rest was proportionally bad. We ordered another paratha.</p>
<p>After breakfast, we again went to the Temple. This time the alleys were packed. And we brought our car coz we were checking out of our rooms and moving on. So yeah... It sucked. The heat, the traffic, the head ache, the noise, the pollution... Not a good experience. I had a tall glass of lemonade as we entered. This time I believe we entered from the main gate. I was surprised to find that Jallianwala Bagh was so close, it was literally in front of the Temple. We visited the "Bagh", saw the bullet holes on the wall on the side where construction work wasn't ongoing. We couldn't find the Well mentioned in the stories. Perhaps was on the other side. In any case, we left the place pretty soon - didn't feel like a major destination point we had made it out to be.</p>
<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/jallianwala_bagh.jpg" alt="Jallianwala Bagh" /></p>
<p>Aakash & Rishab went ahead to see the inner temple; I was on the fence of whether to go or not when Shubham asked me to accompany him out shopping nearby. The shops were inside a building, with shade and cool air. I didn't hesitate. Shubham had just finished buying some stuff when the others came back. Seems like there was a waiting of 3-4 hours to go inside. Bummer. Instead I had another tall lemonade (It was really good, if you're not very hygiene-bound) and tried few different flavours of lassi at "Gani Di Lassi" after another parking hazard. Worth it.</p>
<p>We left for Attari border. The climate had changed - suddenly storm clouds brewed on the horizon. The heat and head-ache from the morning seemed like a bad dream. Traffic was gone as we hit the highway. The day was turning about getting better as every minute passed…</p>
<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/attari_border.jpg" alt="Attari Border" /></p>
<p><em>continued on Part 2</em></p>
My trip to Amritsar & Shimla Part 22019-07-09T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/My-trip-to-Amritsar-and-Shimla-Part-2/<p><em>This post is a continuation of the journey I started in previous post. If you haven't already, please read Part 1 first</em></p>
<h2>Day 2 (cntd)</h2>
<p>As I stepped out the car at what appeared to be a deserted place, I saw a couple of kids dart by. Following their trajectory revealed an adult, who appeared to be a farmer and related to the kids. I wondered what they were doing there. I had imagined this place to have some sort of security, being a border station, but it was literally empty. We entered and traversed the whole length of the platform accompanied by the chirps of nearby birds. The storm clouds had dissipated, replaced by pleasant breeze, slight drizzle and cloudy ambience. It was utter perfection - I couldn't have hoped for a better way to spend my afternoon. Unfortunately, the drizzle soon turned heavy and we had to take our leave. This little deserted station had became the best memory of my trip so far.</p>
<p>Next stop - Waga border. This is where a flag lowering ceremony is held every evening. We reached here around 4:30 pm; and the storm clouds that had supposedly "dissipated" earlier revealed themselves in the form of violent winds and heavy down-pour. I thought the ceremony might be canceled. We stayed in the parking lot for another 45 min probably, then decided to make our way inside, despite the rains. As if on cue, the storm mellowed and the climate slowly returned to its afternoon glory by the time we reached the "stadium". Initially, Shubham and I got in with the herd and found ourselves standing in the middle of crowd on the edge between the upper section and lower section of the seats. We couldn’t call Aakash or Rishab, maybe the reception was low or there was signal jamming ongoing, either way we stood there amidst the masses. Suddenly Aakash called us from the side beckoning us; apparently he had been searching for us this whole time. We followed him, finding Rishab at the main entrance.</p>
<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/waga_border.jpg" alt="waga_border" /></p>
<p>Then we headed inside through the VIP entrance - thanks to Rishab. We swaggered in, got some seats and waited for the show to start; something else started instead - rain rain come again... All the VIPs did an exodus back to the covered part of the stadium. We, on the other hand, took this opportunity to move ahead. We sat right behind the foreigner's gallery. Quite the luck we had that day. Eventually, the thing started and went on. I wasn't much interested in it, thought it was all an elaborate pissing contest to be honest. Aakash and Rishab enjoyed from the bottom of their hearts, never seen them so excited; Shubham seemed in his own world. It all lasted some 1 hour or so.</p>
<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/waga_border_1.jpg" alt="waga_border_1" /></p>
<p>We got back to the parking lot, got in our car and stayed there for another hour… Yes, you read that right, we were in the parking lot for more time than the ceremony itself, not by choice though - there was a traffic jam. I have been in my share of jams, mind you, but I have never been stuck in a damn parking lot. My headache had returned in full force, and Shubham later said he too was ill since morning. Him and I were laying about in the backseat, Aakash was in the drivers seat (not driving though) and Rishab shotgun. We managed to get out after a few bumps and Aakash asked me to take the wheel as he was feeling out of sorts after all the traffic and congestion. While I wasn't my best self myself, I made the decision to drive for a while so he can recover and go the rest of the way.</p>
<p>Well, he did. While I went driving on for another hour, he was gorging on whatever snacks his fingers could touch. Eventually it was nightfall and I was done for - my headache had reached apex levels. I stopped past a toll, got in the backseat, put a cap over my face, and was half-sleep before we hit the road.</p>
<p>I'm not really sure when/why I woke up… Maybe it was the hard-hitting sandstorms, or perhaps the continuous thunder & lightning dance going on across the fields. Honestly, I think I missed a lot of awesome scenes. We had another 50 km to go. I was feeling slightly better, but decided to nap anyway. Everyone in the car insisted I take some medicine; Shubham had taken one earlier and was feeling much better. I was averse to popping tablets, who did god-knows-what for god-knows-how-long. For me it was like a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I declined the medication and continued my nap. So the next time I woke, we were in Ludhiana and I was ready to turn in.</p>
<p>The rooms in Ludhiana were much better, instead of an AC there was a cooler. Even the space was bigger. I immediately jumped on the bed and pulled the covers on. The others went for dinner. I had a feeling that I would finally get some proper sleep. Next morning as I woke up, I knew I had.</p>
<p>Day 3</p>
<p>Our journey ahead would take us from Ludhiana to Shimla. However, there was Chandigarh in between, and we had a couple of spots to see. Oh by the way, we left early (around 7 am) and decided to have our breakfast in Chandigarh. Big mistake.</p>
<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/welcome_to_chandigarh.jpg" alt="welcome_to_chandigarh" /></p>
<p>Our first stop was "Rose Garden", also apparently there was a café nearby. Soon we reached the place. We traversed all around (outside of) the garden hoping to sight the café. We found a handcart selling "Bombay Gola" and a hut selling cold drinks. We went in the garden then, hoping the place would be inside. Thankfully, the garden was more or less flat land and it was easy for us to see there was no café inside. After about half hour of wandering about inside, we decided to take our leave. We were very hungry. I suggested let us search for a restaurant directly on the map; someone (I don’t recall who) decided to put in the location of some famous lake nearby. His logic was that since the lake was so popular, there were bound to be some food places nearby. Big Mistake #2.</p>
<p>The lake itself was nice. I was reminded of our "Jewel of Navi Mumbai" - only bigger and cleaner. We sat here for a while and moved on. Btw, yeah, Chandigarh is too damn clean. The roads are like square mazes. Shubham cursed the greenery about, saying they should've at least put a tea stall somewhere; the place seemed deserted, no houses, no people. Only the cars around us reminded we were not alone. Note that only the main city is such. We soon found out that when we entered the old city. Exact opposite.</p>
<p>Shimla was not too far now, so we decided to have "brunch" in Shimla itself; it was way past the time for breakfast. Aakash had the wheel. Shimla was supposedly a very hard place to drive in, with steep slopes and tight curves. To quote Aakash, driving here was like "driving in Lonavla, if you do it 20-30 times up and down continuously" (Lonvala is a hill station near our homes). Our moms were quite stressed out about us going there on our own, having heard dark stories of the dangerous roads and violent accidents. We had a discussion all the way back in Amritsar on hiring a driver to take us to Shimla. But we decided against it for several reasons. First, we were just touching Shimla and coming back. The roads are quite dangerous, true, but the magnitude of danger increases as you go up from Shimla to Manali or Leh side. We weren't going up there so it wasn't <em>as</em> dangerous. Second, we were on a budget. Hiring a driving and managing his expenses would cut deep in our wallets. Third, there wasn't much space in the car for 5 people. The 4 of us sat comfortably but adding another person would required all 3 sitting behind to squeeze together. KUV isn't that big of a car and all of us are quite "healthy" to use Shubham's term. Comfort is a must for long drives.</p>
<p>In any case, we reached safely. Found our hotel - it was about 2 floors underground (which wasn't really, as I would soon find out). We had a saying going about that every time we go to a new hotel, we get an upgrade. This was uncannily true. While our first was a cramped hell, this one seemed like a Royal Suite (relatively). Shubham even joked that we could play cricket in the bathroom - yeah, it was that big. But there was no ac, or cooler or even a fan. Apparently there was no needs as it was cold enough. Also, I noticed the windows. They opened up to an awesome view like we were on the top of a hill. And we were.</p>
<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/shimla_hotel.jpg" alt="shimla_hotel" /></p>
<p>I mentally smacked myself of thinking we were underground. The building was stacked up against the mountain like a bug on a rock. Many structures in Shimla as similar. This was less of a hotel and more of a homestay. The owner was quite friendly as well. He suggested we go to Mall Road first, we said we were hungry, he said then we should go to Mall Road. Apparently the place had everything. We parked our car in some super structure that had "underground" parking levels. Then we took a couple of elevators one after other (yes, multiple) to reach to the top of this famous Mall Road. There was a cricket match going on at the time, I think between Ind & Pak for World Cup. A crowd had gathered outside a shop to watch it on a flickering tv screen. I am not a fan of the game (I like playing it, not watching it), but I understand some people like to watch it. I was slightly irritated though, by Aakash and Rishab constantly having their heads in their phone looking for score. You're on a damn trip with your friends far from home and all you do it stare at your phone. I don’t understand the fanaticism behind the cricket. I said the same to those two and they kept their score-activity down to peeking at their phones every few minutes (for a while).</p>
<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/mall_road.jpg" alt="mall_road" /></p>
<p>In any case, we found a place to have lunch. We were past the "brunch" time as well. I wanted to taste the non-veg offerings here and we ordered couple of chicken dishes and rotis. It was… bland. Everything was watered down. There was barely any gravy. Chicken was chewy. And everything was expensive. But we were starving, and we ate like there was no tomorrow. I soon realized I'd might never like the food up North. None of us did. Rishab is a vegetarian by religion, so while we had lunch, he went out to have some Oreo and tea. I still wonder how that guy survives. He barely eats anything.</p>
<p>Eventually, we finished our lunch. Wandered about the place. There is a church on top, and an international convention was being held. Aakash and Rishab went about shopping. Shubham followed them. I decided to wander about on my own. I found several good spots where I could see a large portion of the city. I antagonized a monkey (unintentionally), and got a good photo to show for it.</p>
<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/monkey.jpg" alt="monkey" /></p>
<p>I covered the entire width of the top of Mall Road. It was a good walk. However, my cell battery was reaching critical levels, so I called Shubham to regroup. Apparently, they were still shopping. I went back and we descended. They missed several beautiful places and barely touched the top of Mall Road due to their shopping sprees, but I doubt they cared. Either way, we had spent several hours here and it was getting dark. We got back to our rooms. Freshened up and went out for dinner. Rishab was the one who ate this time, helped along by Shubham. Later we might have played cards, but <em>someone</em> (ahem, Rishab) said they'd bring them and forgot. So we just slept. Tomorrow whole day was meant for exploring Shimla.</p>
<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/shimla_night.jpg" alt="shimla_night" /></p>
<p><em>continued on Part 3, coming soon</em></p>
Why dogs bark at cars?2019-09-07T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/Why-Dogs-Bark-At-Cars/<p>Today morning, a while after I woke up, I sat in the balcony with my dog Tommy, watching the rains come and go. Presently, Tommy decided to growl at something. Following his heads trajectory, I realised it was a car on the road that he was interested in growling at. He didn't bark, mind you. He knows I don't like him barking when I'm nearby so he usually controls himself. In any case, I was enjoying the cool weather so I let the matter rest, knowing that he'd stop growling when the car was gone.</p>
<p>He did, but then another car came, and he started growling again. "Why at this car now?" I thought, and then I took a good look at this new car. Nothing particular stood out to me, I needed a bigger sample size. While I couldn't work out WHY he was interested in that car, I had enough data to eliminate certain other hypothesis that I've come to hear about the matter.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>"Dogs bark at cars which have killed other dogs in past" - I never belived in this theory. Now, I have evidence to refute it. Tommy wouldn't care. I don't think I need to explain this beyond that.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>"Dogs bark at cars which smell weird" - First off, the wind was blowing <em>away</em> from us. It would have been extremely difficult for the smell of a car (while it was raining) to reach Tommy's nose in the balcony on 13th floor. Also, he wasn't barking at any single car; from my count, he barked at atleast 7 other cars in the interval where I was observing. The probability of all the cars smelling the same? Low. Coupled with the previous fact, this hypothesis => probably incorrect. I say <em>probably</em> because it is not necessary that there be a <em>single</em> smell. There could be many different aromas that could be enticing to a dog. Also, I could be underestimating the smelling power of dogs.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>In any case, I observed the size, shape, color and direction of the cars that Tommy was growling (and ignoring). Pretty soon, I noticed a pattern. He was mostly growling at cars which had something white on them (either the paint or a bag on top or something) I predicted that he'd growl at a white car that I saw coming from far away - AND HE DID. I made up my mind to share this awesome discovery through the blog and was wondering how I should get started when Tommy growled again.</p>
<p>It was a red car.</p>
<p>When the red car was gone, 2 other white cars drove by, which he merrily ignored.</p>
<p>Then he came back from his growling spot to where I was sitting, wanting a scratch. I obliged. Now I was thinking of how I should end my blog.</p>
<p>Silver Lining? I have started the process of elimination. Previously held notions were refuted and the path has been opened for new theories.</p>
<p>If you were to ask now me why dogs bark at cars, I'd probably say that it's because they're in a mood for it. In my mind, I'd hope some curious soul somewhere finds the real reason, if there is any.</p>
Reaching Zero2019-10-26T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/Reaching-zero/<p><em>There are times when I question my own existence, the reason for being alive. At other times, I am frustrated (or feeling useless) enough that, in-spite of having a ton of stuff to do, I am unable to lift a finger. Then there are times when simply lying on the bed feels like a chore. I wanted to rid myself of these nasty moods before they become a real problem. I had heard somewhere that "meditation" can help. I decided to give it a shot. This post outlines my journey following the various methods of meditations and how I arrived at one that serves me best.</em></p>
<h1>Learnings</h1>
<p>Initially, I had no idea where to start. Over the course of a couple of weeks, after reading several online texts and using 4-5 meditation apps on my phone, I had a rough outline of some basic meditation techniques with different areas of focus:</p>
<h2>The one where you focus on your <strong>thoughts</strong></h2>
<p>The main output of this technique is to separate yourself from your mind. Yeah, quite a revolutionary way to see yourself, isn't it?</p>
<p>What it means is that thoughts come and go. The major function of your mind is to think, and it does nothing but that when it has nothing else to do. <strong>YOU are not your thoughts</strong>. Watch as they come and go. Try to figure out where they spring from. Get to the root cause of the matter. This process usually gets you to your basic needs as an individual. Why you want or feel or think what you do. At the very least, forgiving yourself for thoughts is an impossibly liberating feeling.</p>
<h2>The one where you focus on <strong>body parts</strong></h2>
<p>This technique tries to get you to <strong>completely relax</strong>. Stress builds up both in our mind and body. In case of the latter, it is manifested in forms of stiff postures or unwieldy positions. It is hard to explain unless you actually know it or do it.</p>
<p>Quite simply, just focus your attention on each body part like the top of your head, lips, shoulders, fingers, etc. I found quite a difference in knowing and seeing. At the very least, when I focus on my shoulders, I feel the stiffness still in them and immediately loosen them. On some rare occasion, I am so relaxed that I feel the weight of my body; which I hope isn't because of the excess fat I am gathering daily, but that is a matter for another time.</p>
<h2>The one where you focus on your <strong>breath</strong></h2>
<p>Do I even need to explain how to do this?</p>
<p>I believe the aim of this method is to <strong>getting your mind under control.</strong> Our consciousness and beliefs have a tremendous influence on our body (yes, physically; not to mention the decisions we make and actions we take). For me though, the goal was to get rid of the turbulent winds in my heart. This technique seemed like the trump card I needed.</p>
<h2>The one where you focus on your <strong>imagination</strong></h2>
<p>A bit exacting for those without an active imagination, I first saw this technique from the app that tried to make me <strong>get rid of (to quote the woman's voice guiding me "let go of") the negative vibes in my body.</strong> First, she made me imagine all the dark clouds of stress and anger swirling inside me; then as I did a long inhale and held the air within, I imagined all the dark cloud loosening their hold on my bones and tendons; finally, as I exhaled, I emitted the stuff outside.</p>
<p>I must clarify though, that I live an unusually stress-free life. Besides the thoughts I mentioned before, minor worries of finance & future, and mood swings contingent of the human condition and external factors, I am relatively happy most of the time. Which is to say I cannot attest to how effective this method was when I tried it.</p>
<p>One thing I did notice over the several tries I did, is that trying to imagine stuff in detail requires the whole of your attention with pin-point focus for an extended period of time. Imagine trying to think up a different architecture (or process) for your last project. Takes a while, eh?</p>
<h1>Application</h1>
<p>Most of the articles and apps recommended combining different methods one after another in a single session. For example, there was one 20-minute session where I started off with focusing on my body parts, then focusing on internal and external sounds (going from my heartbeat to the sound of vehicles outside; wait, should I have made a separate technique for this?), eventually focusing on my breaths (and ignoring various thoughts), finally ending up with ejecting stress from my body.</p>
<p>Oh, I should also mention, that my image of "meditation" was a (sadhu-type) guy sitting cross-legged under a large tree. I had unconsciously attached "sitting" with "meditation". I wasn't able to do that for a long (perhaps due to my inherent laziness - which I am also working out through meditation :p). <strong>You can meditate in any position you feel comfortable in.</strong> I meditate before going to sleep. This serves the dual purpose of allowing me to meditate at my most comfortable, and also not needing to worry about falling asleep.</p>
<p>While I dutifully tried to go through each method, sometimes with the help of an app or sometimes of my own will, I felt something lacking. I wasn't feeling pumped to actually do it. Sure, there were benefits, but the activity wasn't rewarding in itself.</p>
<h2>Break-through</h2>
<p>After several trials and errors, I stumbled upon a wonderful technique. I do not know where I got this idea from (I am almost inclined to call this my own invention; however, if you find a source of this, please let me know). Here is what I do -</p>
<ol>
<li>Get comfortable (as I mentioned, I meditate just before sleeping)</li>
<li>Start counting backwords with each breath</li>
</ol>
<p>That is all. Well, sort of.</p>
<p>For the first time I did this, I started off from 100. I easily reached till 0. I was not satisfied at all. Next day I went for - wait for it... <em>500</em>; thinking it was near impossible to coherently count 500 numbers backwords without missing a single one in my sleepy state. However, I underestimated my excitement and eventually reached zero. (I may have missed some, but reaching zero dwarfed me not counting a few digits)</p>
<p>Was it easy? Hell no. Was it worth it? Hell yes! The pride you feel after completing a difficult task that even you doubt ever accomplishing yourself is without compare.</p>
<p>Did I follow through? Well, no. I couldn't stay as excited every night. In the following week that I tried reaching zero, I may have managed it again for one more time. I usually ended up falling asleep at 200s or 300s. The following week, I reach on average at 100s. There was a time when I reached the 50s and was bitter the next day for not completing it - making a promise to myself that I would do better today. After 3 weeks, for some insignificant reason that I do not remember, I stopped. That was over a month ago. I started again last week. This time I'm going for 1000. I have already reached zero once on 10 days but I average around 400 to 600s (not counting that one).</p>
<p><strong>Did it help?</strong> <strong>ABSOLUTELY</strong>. The random downer thoughts still come, but get this - I almost immediately let them out. That is a big win in my book. Another thing I noticed is that I, more often that not, follow thorough with the decisions and tasks I set for myself (although I'm a long way off from proper discipline). There might be some other effects as well, who knows? I'm happy with these enough that I'll continue with the practice.</p>
<p>Need more elaborations on what exactly I do? Sure, here is the break-down of what I currently follow for 1000 numbers.</p>
<ol>
<li>For the first hundred (1000 to 900) -> I try to get completely relaxed (using body scans)</li>
<li>For the next hundred (899 -> 800) -> I get to monitor my thoughts (trying to reduce the number of missed counts)</li>
<li>For the rest -> I imagine each number (for every hundred set) in some way (like 567 made of smoke) in my minds eye.</li>
</ol>
<p>Of course, I always ensure that I do not miss the count. But I do. I have missed 10s several times. Sometimes I unknowingly jump backward and forward by 50s and 80s. It will happen to you too - It is okay. Part of the process. Take it in your stride.</p>
<p>Also, one great side effect is that I can actually feel myself falling asleep. Well, again, it is hard to explain; I'll try nonetheless. You see, normally before falling asleep, your mind goes through tons of visuals. Past events, future possibilities, what ifs, so on. But you can identify each visual, more or less, by certain event(s). However, as you fall asleep, these visuals become more random, more abstract. Something like a dream. While I am meditating, I keep these random visuals to a minimum, but pretty soon as I near zero, I start getting these random visuals that I cannot identify. This is a thin window of time when your consciousness is merging with the sleeplike state. While this does not actually provide day-to-day help in any way, I still find it exhilarating to experience.</p>
<p>Finally, I must add that I am no expert in meditation. A month of experiments under my belt is no claim to glory. I write this post not to educate you, but trying to share my experience, hoping you'd go and have your own (and share it as well). Here's to all of us <strong>Reaching Zero.</strong> <em>Also, Happy Diwali!</em></p>
Free Ebooks - Haskell Webcrawler2020-04-28T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/Free-Ebooks---Haskell-Webcrawler/<p><em>So I've been learning a new language "Haskell" during this quarantine period; a couple of days ago, my uncle sent me a pdf with links to ebooks apparently worth thousands of dollars, that springer.com is hosting for free during the quarantine. I opened the pdf and saw a list of about 400 books; an idea immediately struck my mind - what if I wanted to download them all? Click on each link and open the page then download from there? Meh, who'd do that. This was a good challenge to write a web-scraper using Haskell; I'd learn a lot of new stuff and get some job done as well. So I did. Then, I thought I'd share the stuff with y'all. So here is this post.</em></p>
<h2>TLDR; I wrote a program to download free ebooks. Link here : <a href="https://github.com/EMPAT94/haskell-practice/tree/master/web-crawler">Source code</a></h2>
<p>First things first, we need links to download the books. The links are inside a pdf. So, we need to extract them from there. I wrote another small program to do the same and got the links into a separate text file. Also, since all the links are same with only the isbn number changing, I removed the redundant part and kept only the isbn number in the file. If you want, you may use this file or write your own parser. Since this process isn't part of crawling, I'll omit the explaining part as well.</p>
<h2>Ebooks Links pdf : <a href="https://github.com/EMPAT94/haskell-practice/blob/master/web-crawler/ebooks.pdf">Link</a></h2>
<p>Next, the crawler. If you click on the link inside the pdf, you'll find yourself on a web page providing the actual download link, which is different from the link in the pdf. So we have the following steps to follow to get the ebook on our drive from the pdf link :</p>
<ol>
<li>Open download page using provided link</li>
<li>Parse the download page and get download link for pdf</li>
<li>Use the pdf download link to fetch the actual book</li>
</ol>
<p>I won't go into explaining the actual code. The above 3 steps are pretty much all that is needed to understand the flow. See the source for the internal working.</p>
<h2><a href="https://github.com/EMPAT94/haskell-practice/tree/master/web-crawler">Source code</a></h2>
<h2>Note :</h2>
<p>I should emphasize that I have <em>just</em> started learning the language - I am maybe about a week or two into it. So, do not use my code as a "proper" reference. There are better references. In fact, if there is something that I can improve in it, please let me know.</p>
<h2>Note 2 :</h2>
<p>I doubt any of you would read all 400 of those books. Most of them seems to be related to science and tech but span a wide range of fields. Might I suggest taking a look at the ebooks.pdf document, note the isbn numbers of the books you'd like to have, then keep only those in the ebook-isbns.txt file and run the program. You'll download only those books you want, no need to waste disk space or network bandwidth.</p>
<h2>Note 3 :</h2>
<p>Actually, there is no note 3. Hahaha. Enjoy Reading!</p>
Don't say No, say Later!2020-08-07T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/Dont-say-no-say-later/<p>Ofcourse, this is only in the specific context of breaking addictive bad habits, not in a general sense. Allow me to elaborate...</p>
<p>Say you have a very bad habit of day dreaming for hours on end, or perhaps opening facebook to send message to a friend but somehow ending up scrolling through the feed for god knows how long - and you wish to break these bad habits. The usual mantras include "remove temptations", "focus hard", "one thing at a time" so on and so forth. Adding to this long list is my own (soon to be trade marked) "Don't say no, say later!"</p>
<p>I know from experience how hard it is to decline yourself the pleasure of said temptations; mostly you just end up doing them without even realising you're doing them! How do you apply this mantra then? Simple, do not decline yourself, just put a pin in it!</p>
<p>For example, when I am meditating (and other times as well), random stories of past/future and infinite what-ifs/could-bes plague my thoughts. And they are incredibly interesting in that moment, ironic given how I don't even remeber them later on. Anyhoo, once I feel myself being dragged into this pit, I just tell myself "Hmmm, this is interesting, I'll think on it in depth after my meditation is done" and continue on. In rare cases where I do remeber what I was thinking about, it ain't interesting no more - mostly I just forget about it.</p>
<p>Another example, when I am working on some code and encounter an error, go look it up on google and oh - what's this? A new update to.. wait! I'll just keep a tab open for with that link and come back to it later and read properly; for now, back to work. Easy peasy.</p>
<p>So, next time you feel yourself acting out a bad habit: Don't say no, say later!</p>
Music on Console2020-08-09T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/music-on-console/<p>I recently tried out a new music player - a <em>terminal based</em> music player!</p>
<p>For context, my OS is macOS Catalina and I have been using a music player called VOX for the longest time (ofcourse, I did try many other alternatives, which for one reason or another, didn't stick). What drove me to seek out another music player? Plain curiosity, nothing else.</p>
<p>The music player in question is called : <strong>Music On Console</strong> check out main page here <a href="http://moc.daper.net/">moc.daper.net</a> and docs <a href="http://moc.daper.net/node/87">moc.daper.net/node/87</a></p>
<h2>Installation</h2>
<p>Here's how I installed it on my system -</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">$brew install jack mocp
</code></pre>
<p>That's it.</p>
<p>If you don't have homebrew, you should. Look it up here <a href="https://brew.sh/">brew.sh</a></p>
<h2>Usage</h2>
<p>Ofcourse, I immediately started it like so -</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">$mocp
</code></pre>
<p>and instantly got an error</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">Running the server...
Trying JACK...
FATAL_ERROR: No valid sound driver!
FATAL_ERROR: Server exited!
</code></pre>
<p>After some googling about, I found out that <strong>jack</strong> is actually a service that you need to start.
Run <strong>brew info jack</strong> for more information. Any way, running below did the trick.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">$brew services start jack
</code></pre>
<p>Now running <strong>mocp</strong> again gave me :</p>
<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/mocp.png" alt="mocp image" /></p>
<h2>Customization</h2>
<p>I did tweak it a bit to get to the state shown in the image. In my case, it is set to a hot-key in <a href="https://iterm2.com/">iTerm</a> that automatically opens a window dedicated to music player and run it (with set background and fonts). The player is also configured with custom keymaps and config. I copied them over from my brew installation folder to <strong>~/.moc/</strong> folder.</p>
<p>Next on my todo list is to bind the mac keyboard's next/play/pause button to mocp commands. Then, I'll have a fully function music player that barely consumes any resources and works on global single key strokes.</p>
<p>Oh, did I mention that uninstalling VOX cleaned up about 800 MBs worth of space?</p>
<p>I feel like I will be using this music player for the distant future (It works on all unixes I use). Give it a shot and let me know how it goes. Cheers!</p>
Quick Screenshot2020-08-18T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/quick-screenshot/<p>Heyo, quick tip - While web-browsing, should you ever need to take a screenshot of any page, you don't need to install any fancy extensions to do so.</p>
<p>Just follow the steps below (these are for Chrome and other chromium-based browsers):</p>
<ol>
<li>Open Developer Tools</li>
<li>Run Command (using shortcut or from 3-dot menu)</li>
<li>Type "screensh"</li>
<li>Select relevant option (btw, full size = scrolling shot)</li>
<li>Done</li>
</ol>
<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/browser_screenshot.png" alt="Browser Dev Tools Screenshot" /></p>
<p>I'm pretty sure there are ways to do the same on all major browsers, although I haven't tried any. If you know, do comment the same and I'll add it to the post (with due credits, of course). That is all! I did say "quick" tip, didn't I? Cheers.</p>
Remove Stubborn Bloatware In Android2020-08-23T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/remove-stubborn-bloatware/<p>Yes, you can actually remove all the apps that are hogging the resources on your precious android device - no matter if they cannot be removed or even disabled normally. Just follow the steps below :</p>
<h2>Pre-requisites</h2>
<ol>
<li>Laptop</li>
<li>Phone</li>
<li>Cable connecting the two</li>
</ol>
<h2>Steps</h2>
<p>1 - Connect your phone to laptop; make sure it shows up on <em>adb devices</em> in your terminal as below</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">$ adb devices
List of devices attached
RZ8M30R4RSF device
</code></pre>
<p>2 - Start up an <strong>adb shell</strong></p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">$ adb shell
beyond0:/ $
</code></pre>
<p>3 - Enter the following command to disable <em><strong>any</strong></em> app</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">beyond0:/ $ pm disable-user --user 0 com.app.package.name
</code></pre>
<p><em>That's it!</em> The app is immediately disabled. It carries across restarts and OTA updates as well.</p>
<h2>Extras</h2>
<p>To get the package name of an app installed on your phone, simply grep it like so</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">beyond0:/ $ pm list packages | grep whatsapp
package:com.whatsapp
</code></pre>
<p>You can even get a list of all the bloatware present by greping your phone's manufacturer name</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">beyond0:/ $ pm list packages | grep samsung
package:com.samsung.android.provider.filterprovider
package:com.samsung.android.app.ledcoverdream
package:com.sec.android.widgetapp.samsungapps
package:com.samsung.android.smartswitchassistant
package:com.samsung.android.app.galaxyfinder
package:com.samsung.android.themestore
package:com.samsung.android.app.aodservice
package:com.samsung.android.app.cocktailbarservice
package:com.samsung.android.beyond.p00.wallpapermulti
package:com.samsung.internal.systemui.navbar.gestural_no_hint_wide_back
package:com.samsung.android.calendar
...
</code></pre>
<p>Another tip: You can download terminal on your android itself, and run the above commands in it! No need for laptop or cable.</p>
<h2>Sources</h2>
<p>I have not gone into deep details of how/why this stuff works. Nor have I explained how to set up adb and so on. That is by intention, to keep the post small and to the point.</p>
<p>If, however, you wish for more details like to re-enable a disabled app or how to set up adb, the following two sources should satiate your curiosity. They also provide additional commands. Enjoy!</p>
<p><a href="https://www.xda-developers.com/uninstall-carrier-oem-bloatware-without-root-access/">Uninstall Carrier/OEM Bloatware Without Root Access</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.xda-developers.com/disable-system-app-bloatware-android/">Disable any pre-installed system app</a></p>
IP on tap2020-08-27T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/ip-on-tap/<p>There are times when you need to know what ip your system holds, be it public (WAN) or private (DHCP in LAN)</p>
<p>Every time, I had to dig through ifconfig output for the router-assigned ip, or open up the browser and search the net for my public one.</p>
<p>That is all in the past though. I added a couple of lines to my shell config that reduced this process to less than a second. You can append these to your bashrc or zshrc.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">alias show-private-ip="ipconfig getifaddr en0";
alias show-public-ip="curl ipecho.net/plain; echo";
</code></pre>
<p>While the <strong>show-private-ip</strong> command is I assume, macOS specific, the <strong>show-public-ip</strong> works universally; as long as you have curl installed.</p>
Wireless adb2020-09-16T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/wireless-adb/<h2>How to use adb wirelessly</h2>
<ol>
<li>Connect your system to the phone via adb using cable (how-to below)</li>
<li>Enter the following in shell <code>adb tcpip 5555</code></li>
<li>Your adb server should restart; now type the following <code>adb connect <phone-ip>:5555</code>
where phone-ip is the wireless internet address of your phone</li>
<li>Enter <code>adb devices</code> again, it should show your phone's ip</li>
<li>Remove cable. Done!</li>
</ol>
<p><em>Wireless adb will work until you reboot the phone</em></p>
<p><em>Your phone and laptop/pc should be on the same network</em></p>
<h2>How to connect laptop/pc to phone with adb</h2>
<ol>
<li>Ensure adb debugging is enabled (how-to below)</li>
<li>Attach cable to your system and phone</li>
<li>Type <code>adb devices</code> in your shell</li>
<li>A pop-up will show up on your phone to "Allow USB Debugging", click allow</li>
<li>Done! You device string will show up in the shell below the command</li>
</ol>
<h2>How to enable adb debugging</h2>
<ol>
<li>In your android phone, navigate to Settings > About Phone > Software Information</li>
<li>You should see your "Build Number", tap on it a few times until you see "Developer mode has been enabled" pop-up</li>
<li>Go to Settings again, Developer Options > Toggle USB Debugging</li>
<li>Click allow on the pop-up. Done, debugging is now enabled, yay!</li>
</ol>
<p><em>While the overall process is same on all phones, the placement of setting options may be different. You can use the search option in your Settings</em></p>
<h2>Useful links</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_software_development#Android_Debug_Bridge_(ADB)">Wiki ADB</a></li>
<li><a href="https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/adb">Android Docs ADB</a></li>
</ul>
Hasty Charts2020-09-22T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/hasty-charts/<p>I recently got to work on an email campaign where I had to send emails to our users with their monthly usage statistics.</p>
<p>I wanted to show the stats in a pleasing visual format instead of dull numbers. So I turned to charts!</p>
<p>After lots of twists and turns, I ended up creating my own function to render charts.</p>
<p>This is how the chart looks with sample data:</p>
<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/chart.jpg" alt="chart" /></p>
<p>Check out the code <a href="https://gist.github.com/EMPAT94/818b0b5e41e4c37b30d3407d6247ca52">Gist Link</a>:</p>
<div style="max-width:85vw;">
<script src="https://gist.github.com/EMPAT94/818b0b5e41e4c37b30d3407d6247ca52.js"></script>
</div>
Reading List October 20202020-10-13T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/Reading-list-Oct-2020/<h2>Books</h2>
<h3>1. Deep Work - Cal Newport | <a href="https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B013UWFM52">Amazon Link</a></h3>
<blockquote>
<p>A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, DEEP WORK takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories -- from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air -- and surprising suggestions, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored.</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>2. Think Straight - Darius Foroux | <a href="https://www.amazon.in/THINK-STRAIGHT-Change-Your-Thoughts-ebook/dp/B077NJWFR3">Amazon Link</a></h3>
<blockquote>
<p>99% of your thoughts are useless. William James, once the leading psychologist in America, and one of the founders of the philosophical school of pragmatism, put it best:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You have the ability to decide what you think. Or, you can choose NOT to think.
THINK STRAIGHT reveals the recipe for taking control of your mind so you can improve your life, career, relationships, business.
The mind is the most powerful tool on earth. Change the way you think. And you'll change your life.</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>3. Communication Skills Training - Ian Tuhovsky | <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Communication-Skills-Training-Intelligence-Presentation-ebook/dp/B010G81716">Amazon Link</a></h3>
<blockquote>
<p>What Will You Learn With This Book?</p>
<ul>
<li>What Are The Most Common Communication Obstacles Between People And How To Avoid Them</li>
<li>How To Express Anger And Avoid Conflicts</li>
<li>What Are The Most 8 Important Questions You Should Ask Yourself If You Want To Be An Effective Communicator?</li>
<li>5 Most Basic and Crucial Conversational Fixes</li>
<li>How To Deal With Difficult and Toxic People</li>
<li>Phrases to Purge from Your Dictionary (And What to Substitute Them With)</li>
<li>The Subtle Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<h2>My Thoughts</h2>
<p>For context, I have already read through the first 2 books and just started the last.</p>
<p>Deep Work is a book that I would unquestionably and unconditionally recommend to everyone. Don't think about it, just get it.</p>
<p>As you all may or may not know, I have trouble keeping to schedules and routines. While I make do somehow with last-minute grunt work, I have been looking for ways to improve my precondition to procrastination. Many books have taken me through how to increase my focus, create a mental space for productivity, fight distraction, so on and so forth.</p>
<p>This book, however, tackles the quality of your actions. It drills you on how to actually <em>work better</em>. I have personal experience with the fact that working deeply may or may not make me happy, but it surely leaves me content. That is no mere achievement. I have chased happiness before, now I chase satisfaction in my work. The feeling I get after completing a grueling task to the best of my ability is like no other. While I always had trouble (still do) with actually starting deep work, now the fact that I know what I must actually do gives a direction to my wandering mind.</p>
<p>Speaking of a wandering mind, I think the second book complements the former quite nicely. I've been through several self-help books regarding the (un|sub)conscious, so while I may not have learned as much as I expected, it served as a glorious reminder nonetheless. I suggest you read those books in tandem. One tackling your thoughts and the other your actions. Few things besides those are under our control anyway.</p>
<p>Finally, the last book. I am hesitant to make a sweeping statement about it given I have barely started reading. Yet from what I have read so far, it looks like it'll be an interesting read.</p>
<p>Also, I plan to read the first 2 books again. I refuse to believe that a single read is enough to get the best value out of them. Personally, I feel like I have extracted barely a fraction of their potential. I plan to use actionable from Deep Work into my (quite flexible) schedule and Think Straight into my daily ruminations. In fact, I've already started somewhat. In case of the former, I keep a chunk of my time allocated to "shallow work" and from the latter, I think ahead on what my next chapters for grand simulation will be like during walking my dog.</p>
<p>I plan to publish a post every month on the general books I am planning to (or have already) read in that month. If you would like me to check out your favorite book or share what you think of the books I recommended, do add the same in the comments below.</p>
Regular Expression Group Descriptions2021-04-27T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/regex-groups/<p>Assume we have a string date in yyyy-mm-dd format (year-month-day) like so "2021-04-27"</p>
<p>If we were to apply regex on it to extract year/month/day from it :</p>
<pre><code class="language-javascript">const d = "2021-04-27";
const r = /(\d{4})-(\d{2})-(\d{2})/;
const e = r.exec(d);
console.log(e); // [..., '2021', '04', '27', ... ]
</code></pre>
<p>We get a jumble of data back in an array, with our matches somewhere in between. Is there a better way? Why yes, there is :</p>
<pre><code class="language-javascript">const d = "2021-04-27";
const r = /(?<year>\d{4})-(?<month>\d{2})-(?<day>\d{2})/;
const e = r.exec(d);
console.log(e.groups); // { year: '2021', month: '04', day: '27' }
</code></pre>
<p>Whoa! Not only did our code get more readable, but our output is precise. And it is all built-in!</p>
<p>What exactly did we do? Well, we simply added "descriptions" to our regex groups:</p>
<pre><code class="language-javascript">const e_before = /(\d{4})-(\d{2})-(\d{2})/;
const e_after = /(?<year>\d{4})-(?<month>\d{2})-(?<day>\d{2})/;
// (\d{4}) => (?<year>\d{4})
// ?<desc> inside () group
</code></pre>
<hr />
<p>I haven't made many blog post recently, been working on <a href="https://priteshtupe.com/gs">Grand Simulation</a> the whole time.</p>
<p>But this tip was much too useful to not share, so here we are.</p>
<p>That's all folks!</p>
<hr />
<p>Due credits :</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/addyosmani/status/1386031624232456194/photo/1">Addy Osmani</a></p>
<p><a href="https://davidwalsh.name/regular-expression-match-groups">David Walsh</a></p>
A "from scratch" guide to setting up Nextcloud + Postgresql + Nginx secure reverse proxy using docker on Ubuntu 20.042022-01-13T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/nextcloud-setup/<blockquote>
Disclaimer: This post begins (and ends) with the assumption that you are familiar with the words in the title. If you do not know <i>any</i> of those, perhaps this isn't for you yet. If you understand <i>some</i> but not all, I highly recommend reading about them elsewhere before continuing, I'll add links to the bottom for convenience.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Disclaimer 2: While the aim of this post is to enable you to have a working nextcloud setup eventually, the process I go through is a tumble through many obstacles and learnings (a few of them I have mentioned here) as <i>my</i> aim was the learn docker container stuff and nginx proxy. This post is a brief recount of the same. If you wish to skip all the fluff and just want a working nextcloud instance, there are many docker-compose files out there that will get you up and running within minutes. And no, I do not use docker-compose here (or even a Dockerfile).
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Disclaimer 3: Following assumptions are made -
<br />
1. You have a cloud instance ready. Check out the free oracle servers below.
<br />
2. You have docker installed. Again, linked at the bottom.
<br />
3. You have a domain name linked to your instance IP. (This is a requirement for HTTP secure, not essential but highly recommended)
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Disclaimer 4: This is not a disclaimer. You have had enough disclaimers already. There will be no more.
</blockquote>
<h2>Playing around</h2>
<p>First off, let us see what we want at the end. Get docker installed and docker.service running in your local machine if you haven't already. Then run the following command:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo docker run -p 8000:80 -d nextcloud
</code></pre>
<p>The above command starts a container (an isolated process) using the nextcloud image (a set of lib/commands to run said process) in "detached" mode (in the background), binding your machine's ("host", from the container's perspective) port 8000 to the container's port 80 - that is, any data received on machine's port 8000 will be forwarded to container's port 80 and vice versa. (-p is short for --port, -d is short for --detached.)</p>
<p>You can ensure that the container is running with the following command:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo docker ps
</code></pre>
<p>You can ensure that the container is running <em>properly without errors</em> with the following command:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo docker logs <container-id/name>
</code></pre>
<p>You will get the container id (a seemingly random alphanumeric string) or name from the <code>ps</code> command. There are also ways to name a container but that is for later. Now, assuming the container is running properly, let us see what the fuss is all about.</p>
<p>Open your browser and go to http://localhost:8000. You will see a nice login screen. Add a random username and password, click on submit and then explore around. <em>THIS</em> is what we want at the end, only it will be available from the internet using a recommended database. (Spoiler: The name is in the title)</p>
<p>Now if you're done playing around, you can stop the container with:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo docker stop <container-id/name>
</code></pre>
<p>To check that your container is stopped, run the <code>ps</code> command again. You'll notice it is gone from there. It is still, however, saved to disk and ready to go anytime. To see all containers, do:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo docker ps -a
</code></pre>
<p>Where -a stands for all. To <em>remove</em> a container, you'd do:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo docker rm <container-id/name>
</code></pre>
<p>And check with <code>ps -a</code>. Gone, right?</p>
<p>Anyhoo, now that we have a vision to work towards, lets... work towards it. You may try all this in your local machine (except the TLS stuff), or give it a go in your remote instance if you so wish.</p>
<h2>Setting up Postgresql</h2>
<p>Alright, let us kick things off with an easy one - setting up our database. Run the following command:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo docker volume create postgres-data
</code></pre>
<p>Docker containers are "ephemeral". You may look the word up in the dictionary for the exact definition and expand your vocabulary. In practice, what this means for us is that all the data inside the container is purged when the container is removed. That is how they are meant to be. We kinda need our data to remain behind, even if the service stops. Thus, volumes.</p>
<p>A "volume" is a block of storage that is "attached" to a container. Multiple volumes can be attached to one container. They can be shared among other containers as well. More importantly, they are persistent. There are three types - unnamed, named, and bound volumes. Here we have a named volume that is managed by docker itself. It is easy to backup, share, and replicate when a volume is named. When we ran the nextcloud container above, it stored the data in an "unnamed" volume to ensure persistence across container restarts and acts of god.</p>
<p>All this is to say, we have a block of persistent storage named "postgres-data" somewhere on our disk now ready to be attached to our database container. Let us do that:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo docker run \
-v postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=supersecretpassword \
--net=host --name=my-postgres --restart=unless-stopped \
-d postgres
</code></pre>
<p>'Whoa whoa! What is all this?' you ask? Allow me to explain!</p>
<p>First, we ask docker to start a container with <code>docker run</code>. Then we ask it to bind our previously created volume to the directory where PostgreSQL stores data with the <code>-v</code> flag. It stands for --volume. Then we supply the password our database will use in an environment variable named POSTGRES_PASSWORD with the -e flag. It stands for --environment (--env). The --name flag give our container - you guessed it, a name! We can use it to start, stop, remove or log without having to <code>ps</code> all the time (or have some weird name attached by default). Now, the --restart flag tells docker to start the process again should it stop for any reason. Unless it was stopped manually. Finally, -d runs it in the background.</p>
<p>'You missed one!' Yes, I'm aware.</p>
<p>Remember how we used the port flag (-p) earlier to bind port 8000 to port 80? Yeah, you can expose PostgreSQL's port 5432 similarly using the -p 5432:5432 option. However, I initially planned to expose my DB instance to the world (or just me but from anywhere, you get it). Across my voyage of learning through the forums and docs, I came across information that -p flag introduces a <em>slight</em> delay due to docker container having a separate virtual network interface (isolation, yay!) and it must do NAT for the port functionality. And the solution was <code>--net=host</code>. Now, that delay didn't <em>really</em> matter to me but who am I to turn down easy optimizations? What the flag does is run the container on the host's network interface. All the ports and rules of the host apply to the container as well. Your machine's localhost is the container's localhost. This eliminates the NAT requirement but also removes the network isolation. If you care about it, open the port as mentioned above, and instead of "host", create a different network (like we did volume) and attach it to the container. When the same network is attached to another container (like our upcoming nextcloud one) then they can chat with each other. At this point, I had no plans to set up nginx, instead intending to allow 5432 directly in my machine. Plans change. But I was too lazy to tear down and start again. So this is how it remained. Btw, --net is short for --network.</p>
<p>Check if our PostgreSQL is up and running from previous commands. Done? Make a note of password somewhere (I hope you did not use literal supersecretpassword as password) and let's move on to the nextcloud... next. Heh.</p>
<h2>Setting up Nextcloud</h2>
<p>Alright, we need another volume for nextcloud. Easy peasy:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo docker volume create nextcloud-data
</code></pre>
<p>And there we have it. Should you ever wish to remove a volume (as I had to do a zillion times during my experiments), just issue the following command:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo docker volume rm <volume-id/name>
</code></pre>
<p>'Where will I get the id/name from if I did not give them one?' you ask? Well just list 'em with this:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo docker volume ls
</code></pre>
<p>And should you ever wish to remove <em>all</em> volumes that aren't being used, do:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo docker volume prune
</code></pre>
<p>Use with caution. This will remove volumes for <em>all</em> removed containers. Try it in the playground terminal, where we set up our initial nextcloud container. You'll gain around 400 MBs. It is necessary to houseclean docker every now and then because this thing consumes storage like no tomorrow. Anyway, moving on to the main show:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo docker run \
-e OVERWRITEWEBROOT="/nextcloud" \
-e OVERWRITEPROTOCOL="https" \
-v nextcloud-data:/var/www/html \
-p 8000:80 --name=my-nextcloud --restart=unless-stopped \
-d nextcloud
</code></pre>
<p>'I understand the flags now, but I wonder why we need those overwrite thingys' Ah, sweet bliss of ignorance. I had a lot of <em>fun</em> getting things to work for Nextcloud behind https proxy. So much fun, that I feel I should just omit those flags and let you figure things out yourself. For the fun obviously, I swear! But I promised you'll have a working setup by the end of this post, so here we go.</p>
<p>We will access our nextcloud instance like so - https://yourdomain.com/nextcloud</p>
<p>Notice the http<em>s</em> and <em>/nextcloud</em>. By default, nextcloud assumes it is being hosted in the root of the webserver, so it uses / path for all resources. And it also assumes HTTP protocol. Our setup won't work with either default. Those two flags overwrite the defaults.</p>
<p>At this point, I confess I fell a bit short on reading (since I had had several hours of fun by this point), so once this worked, I stopped looking for alternatives. I am assuming there is a better way of doing what I did, as I noticed these flags being suggested as "use this if earlier didn't work". I never tried this <em>earlier</em> option - a TRUSTED_PROXIES flag. This is left as an exercise for you, dear reader.</p>
<p>Now that we have our nextcloud instance running (I am going to assume you checked the logs), let us move on to the final step - setting up nginx reverse proxy.</p>
<h2>Setting up Nginx</h2>
<p>I have a confession. Originally, my intention was simply to learn a few docker commands and play around with nextcloud. Eventually, I decided to host it on a virtual server instance that I recently acquired, and adding a database was trivial. The plan was to just have those two running, with nextcloud exposed on port 80 and postgres on 5432.</p>
<p>'But what about the other stuff you wanna deploy there eventually?' Exactly! I had the same thought - after I had both PostgreSQL and nextcloud up and running. Yes, the command you ran exposed port 8000 and had nice overwrite flags but that is what I arrived at at the very end. All this is to say, nginx reverse proxy was kinda hammered into my setup at the end. And of course, it had to be secure. All this is kinda "duh!" to you now but I was in sort of a zeal to play around with new stuff and so it sorta slipped my mind. You know how it goes.</p>
<p>The reason I am saying all this is that when I looked around at how the setup would look like, I found a <em>ton</em> of docker-compose files with the nice packaged deployment of all I wanted in a single easy command. So did I do the sane thing and use docker-compose? 'Meh! How hard could it be? Just run another container.' I thought. Heh.</p>
<p>So I deployed an nginx docker container. I ran it on <code>--net=host</code> like postgres to offset NAT latency. Added reverse proxy for /nextcloud. Spent a few fun hours pulling my hair out over how to make it work. Eventually reaching the overwrite flag after trying out many things in the nginx config itself. NOTE: Avoid making substitutions in nginx, it can lead to unforeseen issues, including but not limited to frustration, fury, "f*k this sh*t, I'm becoming a farmer" moments. Simply changing the route in the proxied container is far easier <em>and</em> simpler.</p>
<p>At this point, I should also mention that my remote server is hosted on Oracle (Thank you Oracle for the free stuff!), and while I had made sure to open port 80 (http) and 443 (https) in my security groups <em>and</em> that my firewall wasn't blocking, one of the culprits of "Why the hell isn't this working?" was... iptables. Ensure that no firewalls and iptable routes are blocking access to your goodies. I used the following commands:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo iptables -I INPUT 6 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -I INPUT 7 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -I INPUT 8 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -p tcp --dport 5432 -j ACCEPT
sudo netfilter-persistent save
sudo netfilter-persistent reload
</code></pre>
<p>Explaining the above is beyond the scope of this document. (Always wanted to say that!)</p>
<p>Kidding aside, the commands basically allow packets from said ports, by adding rules at specific index (notice the 6, 7, and 8) in the chain. At the end of the chain is usually REJECT. Notice port 5432? Yeah, I had to add that too for nextcloud to communicate with postgres (although port 8000 seemed to work fine for some reason, probably docker voodoo). Anyway, it is not allowed in security groups so not a big deal as far as I know. Also, during one iteration of my experiment, I simply flushed all iptable rules. Please avoid doing that, no matter how satisfying. If you want to check if all is good:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo iptables -L
</code></pre>
<p>Moving on to the meat of the matter, I deployed an nginx container and somehow managed to get it connected to nextcloud. All good. Now came the security part. (Kudos to Let's Encrypt EFF people, thanks for your hard work!)</p>
<p>It is trivial to get a security certificate. Just install certbot and let it do its thing. It not only downloads the necessary stuff but also updates them before their expiry. For free. And you don't have to do a thing! Heady stuff. There are docker images that do this for you, but having a docker container running for a cron job that does nothing but changes a couple of files every few months sounded like a bit of over-engineering to me. I decided to go non-container mode.</p>
<p>So, since I had nginx running already, I tried to run certbot with --nginx command that professes to automatically set things up for you. But it apparently doesn't work for dockerized containers. No issues, just downloaded the certificates and bound the letsencrypt folder to the nginx container and got things running well. Problem? Every time I wanted to renew the expired certificates, I would have to take down the container, manually run the renew command, and then start the container.</p>
<p>Now, there were many ways I could go. Setup separate certbot and nginx containers with shared volumes. Or fetch an image with certbot <em>and</em> nginx builtin that does everything. Or as mentioned above, manually renew every three months. Doesn't sound so bad? OR...</p>
<p>I could just non-dockerize nginx too. I was already running it on the host network, and it wasn't storing any data, so the benefits of isolating that process vs implementing other options made my choice clear, especially since I did not want to run certbot in a container.</p>
<p>So, download nginx using sudo apt-get and change /etc/nginx/nginx.conf to /etc/nginx/nginx.conf.bak. Open a new file nginx.conf there and add the following:</p>
<pre><code>worker_processes auto;
events {
worker_connections 256;
}
http {
# Default settings
sendfile on;
tcp_nopush on;
tcp_nodelay on;
keepalive_timeout 65;
types_hash_max_size 2048;
include /etc/nginx/mime.types;
default_type application/octet-stream;
# SSL/TLS
ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m;
ssl_session_timeout 10m;
ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;
ssl_protocols TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
ssl_ciphers ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256;
add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=63072000" always;
ssl_stapling on;
ssl_stapling_verify on;
# Gzip
gzip on;
gzip_vary on;
gzip_comp_level 4;
gzip_min_length 256;
gzip_proxied expired no-cache no-store private no_last_modified no_etag auth;
gzip_types application/atom+xml application/javascript application/json application/ld+json application/manifest+json application/rss+xml application/vnd.geo+json application/vnd.ms-fontobject application/wasm application/x-font-ttf application/x-web-app-manifest+json application/xhtml+xml application/xml font/opentype image/bmp image/svg+xml image/x-icon text/cache-manifest text/css text/plain text/vcard text/vnd.rim.location.xloc text/vtt text/x-component text/x-cross-domain-policy;
# Always Secure
server {
listen 80;
listen [::]:80;
server_name yourdomain.com;
return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}
server {
listen 443 ssl http2;
listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
server_name yourdomain.com;
location = ^/nextcloud$ {
return 302 /nextcloud/;
}
location /nextcloud/ {
# https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/23/admin_manual/installation/nginx.html
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000/;
client_max_body_size 512m;
client_body_timeout 300s;
fastcgi_buffers 64 4K;
proxy_redirect off;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_connect_timeout 90;
proxy_send_timeout 90;
proxy_read_timeout 90;
proxy_buffers 32 4k;
}
location = /.well-known/webfinger {
return 301 https://yourdomain.com/nextcloud/index.php/.well-known/webfinger;
}
location = /.well-known/nodeinfo {
return 301 https://yourdomain.com/nextcloud/index.php/.well-known/nodeinfo;
}
location = /.well-known/caldav {
return 301 https://yourdomain.com/nextcloud/remote.php/dav;
}
location = /.well-known/carddav {
return 301 https://yourdomain.com/nextcloud/remote.php/dav;
}
location ~ ^/nextcloud/(?:build|tests|config|lib|3rdparty|templates|data)(?:$|/) {
return 404;
}
location ~ ^/nextcloud/(?:\.|autotest|occ|issue|indie|db_|console) {
return 404;
}
}
}
</code></pre>
<p>I have added different components in this file from several different sources. What you must focus on are the SSL/TLS section and the location redirects. Also, note that I built this config based on what I learned over a few days of frantic efforts to get things going. <em>I AM NOT AN EXPERT IN NGINX (OR DOCKER), TRUST BUT VERIFY!</em> This is a minimal config that I worked for me:</p>
<pre><code class="language-conf">worker_processes auto;
events {
worker_connections 256;
}
http {
ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;
server {
listen 80;
listen 443 ssl;
location = ^/nextcloud$ {
return 302 /nextcloud/;
}
location /nextcloud/ {
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000/;
}
}
</code></pre>
<p>Moving on, once you save nginx.conf, make sure it is correct using the following:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo nginx -t
</code></pre>
<p>Should be "ok" somewhere. If so, then:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo nginx -s reload
</code></pre>
<p>And your reverse proxy is up and running! But wait, you don't have the certificates yet. Try this:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo certbot --nginx --staging
</code></pre>
<p>If okay, remove the staging flag. This command downloads certificates and configures nginx. (It did not change my config but I had it set up from previous efforts so your mileage may vary)</p>
<p>To check if your renewal is working:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">sudo certbot renew --dry-run
</code></pre>
<p>If okay, then give yourself a pat on the back. You did it! Enjoy the goodies on https://yourdomain.com/nextcloud/</p>
<p>By the way, the default username and database name of PostgreSQL are "postgres". I hope you saved the password previously. If not, no worries, just inspect your postgres container and check the environment variables section. If you're worried about security, check out docker secrets.</p>
<p>Also, the database host is your gateway of nextcloud instance hosted on a bridged docker network (usually docker0). You could get it by doing:</p>
<pre><code class="language-s">sudo docker inspect my-nextcloud | grep "Gateway"
</code></pre>
<p>So instead of localhost, add 172.x.x.x:5432 and you're good to go!</p>
<h2>Important Links</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://nextcloud.com/">Nextcloud</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.postgresql.org/">Postgresql</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://nginx.org/en/">Nginx</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.docker.com/">Docker</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://certbot.eff.org/">Certbot</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.oracle.com/cloud/free/">Oracle Free Servers</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/">Installing docker on ubuntu</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
On learning a general-purpose programming langugage2022-07-23T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/learning-a-general-purpose-language/<h2>Beginner</h2>
<h3>Theory</h3>
<blockquote>
<p>Quick Starts, Tutorials, Walk-throughs, User Guides, Beginner Books, etc</p>
</blockquote>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Basic data types and operators</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Basic data structures</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Variable definition</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Function definition</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Loops</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Branching</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Some Std library</p>
<ol>
<li>Data manipulation</li>
<li>File</li>
<li>OS</li>
<li>Network</li>
<li>Datetime</li>
<li>Math</li>
<li>Extended data structures</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<blockquote>
<p>Grok the lexicon, sementics and syntax!</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>Many languages have different ways of doing the same thing; many even do the same thing the same way but under a different name!</em></p>
<h3>Practical</h3>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Very simple (usually single file) problems like:</p>
<ol>
<li>Fibonacci, Primes Sieve, etc</li>
<li>Pull data from a public api and store in a file</li>
<li>Read data from file into language-specific data structure</li>
<li>Convert and write data into json/csv file as original backup</li>
<li>Store data into a database</li>
<li>Create web server routes that GET and POST a row of data in db</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>
<p>Syntactically challenging yet still easy to solve problems like:</p>
<ol>
<li>A simple game (guess the number, hangman etc)</li>
<li>A simple management system (orders, employees, library etc)</li>
<li>A simple data processing pipeline (calculate statistics from a transaction sheet, etc)</li>
<li>A simple web scraper</li>
<li>A simple to-do app</li>
<li>A simple chat app</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<p><em>Yes, we must keep in mind that the solutions need to be <strong>SIMPLE</strong>, else we miss the forest for the trees.</em></p>
<h2>Intermediate</h2>
<h3>Theory</h3>
<blockquote>
<p>Documentations, User Manuals, API References, More Books etc</p>
</blockquote>
<ol>
<li>Simple Project Structure (with tooling)
<ol>
<li>Linters</li>
<li>Test Runners</li>
<li>Formatters</li>
<li>Package Managers</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Concurrent/Parallel (Async) Model</li>
<li>Exception Handling</li>
<li>Modules/Packages Handling</li>
<li>Higher Level Concepts (Inheritance, Protocols, Dispatchers, Composition, Type classes etc)</li>
<li>Scope/Context Model</li>
<li>Common Gotchas (Haskell string, JS falsy, Python GIL, etc)</li>
<li>Simple Macros (if they exist)</li>
<li>Pattern Matching (if it exists)</li>
<li>Regular Expression Support</li>
<li>Memory Allocation/Deallocation (if required)</li>
<li>Value/Reference/Address Passing Support</li>
<li>More from std library</li>
<li>Popular packages from public repository</li>
<li>Best practices, conventions</li>
</ol>
<h2>Practical</h2>
<ol>
<li>6 small projects</li>
<li>3 medium projects</li>
<li>1 large project</li>
<li>Contribute to open source projects</li>
</ol>
<h2>Expert</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>Everything, everywhere but not all at once</p>
</blockquote>
<ol>
<li>Idiomatic Code</li>
<li>Complex Project Structure (with embedded DSLs, advanced config, CI/CD, container images etc)</li>
<li>Development/Testing/Deployment workflows</li>
<li>Foreign Function Interface</li>
<li>Memory Management Models (with different GC mechanisms)</li>
<li>Performance Gotchas (tail-call recursion, lazy evaluation, etc)</li>
<li>Complex Macros and Language extension</li>
<li>When to overrule best practices and conventions</li>
</ol>
<hr />
<p>Ideally, should spend as little time as possible in Beginner phase. An experience programmer can pick up the basics in less than a week.</p>
<p>Spend most of the time in Intermediate phase, working on different projects. This is where you'll learn much of what the language has to offer.</p>
<p>There will be a stark contrast to moving from beginner to intermediate, as you change the scale of your projects. The same cannot be said for intermediate to expert. It could take years, and it is a very gradual process.</p>
Setting up Haskell development environment for Neovim (2022)2022-07-24T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/setting-up-haskell-development-environment-for-neovim/<blockquote>
<p>This is mostly for my sake in case I need it again but may help others avoid the pitfalls I faced, so sharing here.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>In shell (I'm on Manjaro Linux)</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>Do NOT install stack, cabal, ghc, ghci, ghcid and what have you separately.</p>
</blockquote>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Install ghcup <code>yay -S ghcup-hs-bin</code>, check this link <a href="https://www.haskell.org/ghcup/install/">haskell.org/ghcup</a> for other platforms.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Install ghc, stack and cabal using <code>ghcup tui</code>. DO NOT INSTALL HLS YET!</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>[I]nstall recommended versions. Make sure hls supports that version <a href="https://haskell-language-server.readthedocs.io/en/latest/supported-versions.html">here</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>[S]et them as default. <code>ghc</code>, <code>stack</code>, and <code>cabal</code> should be available on path.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<p><em>Note: one tick = installed, another tick = default</em></p>
<h2>In neovim</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>I'm using built-in LSP along with nvim-lsp-installer plugin for convenience. Check <a href="https://github.com/EMPAT94/dotfiles/blob/main/nvim/.config/nvim/lua/plugins/lsp-installer.lua">this file</a> full setup.</p>
</blockquote>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Open a <code>temp.hs</code> file</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><code>:LspInstallInfo</code> should show a green <code>hls</code> available</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>[I]nstall, drink your coffee, close and reopen file.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Profit!</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h2>Some plugin links to avoid lots of googling:</h2>
<p><a href="https://github.com/neovim/nvim-lspconfig">nvim-lspconfig</a>
<a href="https://github.com/williamboman/nvim-lsp-installer/">nvim-lsp-installer</a>
<a href="https://github.com/hrsh7th/nvim-cmp">nvim-cmp</a></p>
<hr />
<p><em>Yes these simple steps took me almost a day of stumbling around. Hopefully, next time it'll be done in minutes.</em></p>
Preparing for PGDM in Canada2022-10-04T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/preparing-for-pgdm-canada/<p><img src="https://priteshtupe.com/assets/imgs/canada-flag.jpg" alt="Canadian Flag" /></p>
<em>
This is a rough outline of the steps I took preparing for my journey to Canada for my studies. I'm outlining them below to give a sort of holistic view of the whole process for those who intend to do the same. Please do not base your entire plan on this single post; I highly recommend contacting a consulting agency. They provide all information for __free__!
</em>
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<p>All the advice in blocks like this is my personal opinion for the rest of this post.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>If you are anywhere in Navi Mumbai, seek out Avani Patel <a href="mailto:avani.patel@idp.com">avani.patel@idp.com</a> at IDP Vashi. She was instrumental in getting my admission and visa stuff done on time.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Phase 1: Prepare for Admission</h2>
<ol>
<li>
<p>The first step is to give an IELTS (Computer-Academic) exam that assesses your English skills.</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>It consists of a reading + writing + speaking trio of tests.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>It is required to get a score of at least 6 out of 9 overall.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>All information regarding IELTS can be found on <a href="https://www.ielts.org/">ielts.org</a> and <a href="https://ielts.idp.com/">ielts.idp.com</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>Apply to colleges.</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Checkout colleges and courses in Ontario on <a href="https://www.ontariocolleges.ca/en/colleges">ontariocolleges.ca</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Apply to at least 5 colleges, to have a chance of getting admitted to one.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>Ideally, you should apply for a 2 years course, so you get a 3-year work permit for it. You can also apply for two 1 year courses for the same benefit. Note however that for a single 1-year course, only a 1-year work permit is allowed. And you can only get a work permit via study <em>once</em>.</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<p>Wait for Admission Approval</p>
<blockquote>
<p>While you can't take out a loan without an admission letter, I recommend having some funds on hand as colleges usually ask for some amount (mine was 2,300$) to book a seat and let you pay the rest (a year's worth of fees) in the coming months.</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
</ol>
<h2>Phase 2: Prepare for Visa</h2>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Apply for GIC.</p>
<ul>
<li>GIC is a sort of "guarantee" to the Canadian govt that you have money to support yourself here. You pay an upfront 10,000$ (was ~6L Rupees for me) into a Canadian bank in form of a sorta-fixed FD that you get disbursed into your account (that will be opened after you arrive in Canada) every month or so.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>Most common options for opening GIC are Scotia and CIBC. I opened a CIBC because I had a referral from a friend. Can't really go wrong with either.</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<p>Get your VISA Photo & Statement of Purpose ready.</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>VISA photo is <em>slightly</em> different from the Passport photo. See details here <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/temporary-resident-visa-application-photograph-specifications.html">Visa Photograph Specifications</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The Statement of Purpose has some mandatory requirements (Doublecheck with your agent):</p>
<ul>
<li>College/Course/Dates clearly stated</li>
<li>A little Family Background</li>
<li>A bit about academics (previous scores and GPA etc)</li>
<li>Professional experience, if any</li>
<li>Reasoning for why the specific course and why Canada?</li>
<li>Some financial background, stating GIC and Fees paid details</li>
<li>Some stuff about the "what after" course ends. To convince you won't overstay your visa.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>CDC Medical Checkup</p>
<ul>
<li>To book a medical appointment, you have to email the CDC center <a href="mailto:info.north@cdcgroup.co.in">info.north@cdcgroup.co.in</a> with the location you wish to get the checkup done (and dates, if you have a preference). They will reply with a free date/time and you have to confirm the appointment.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>They might say it takes only a couple of hours for a checkup, but if I were you I'd block out the whole day for it. There is a <em>lot</em> of crowd.</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<p>Biometrics registration</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Basically to digitally store your fingerprints and irises. Can book your appointment here <a href="https://www.vfsglobal.ca/IRCC-AppointmentWave1/">vfsglobal.ca</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>IMPORTANT: Biometrics must be done within 30 days of getting a BIL after submitting VISA forms (in the next step). Plan accordingly.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>They might try to sell you a "VIP" treatment at the place. It's not that different than normal. Up to you though.</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<p>Visa Forms</p>
<ul>
<li>A very important step. You need to create an account on IRCC and submit your forms for the Visa/Permit application.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>I am not attaching any link here because I highly recommend doing it with your agent. It's a tedious process and a lot can go wrong here.</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<p>Wait for Visa Approval</p>
<ul>
<li>You get your submission confirmation within 24 hours.</li>
<li>You get your UCI and BIL within 48 hours.</li>
<li>Your medical records get updated in the week preceding PPR.</li>
<li>Your PPR comes within 2-3 months (depends, covid so the timings were whack!)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>Once you get approved (your Passport Request comes in, send your passport out for stamping)</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h2>Phase 3: Prepare for Departure</h2>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Buy a ticket.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Most wait for their visa to arrive before booking a ticket. Fair enough, but the problem with that is the prices skyrocket by then. If possible, try to book a "refundable" ticket well in advance. I paid around 60k Rupees for a single-layover ticket when I booked it 4 months earlier (Granted, I had my passport stamped by then), but a friend of mine booked only a month later for twice the amount. And another friend booked it 2 months before departure for over 1.5L. You get the picture.</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<p>College-specific documents (Visa Proof, Vaccination Proof, etc)</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hopefully, covid won't still be a thing when you're reading this.</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<p>Buy a SIM card</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Majority of people buy their SIM after coming to Canada. I got mine while still in India. I did not need to pay anything upfront, simply filled out their forms and uploaded some docs. The SIM arrived home a week later. The advantage of this is that you get immediate internet/telephone access after you arrive in Canada. The last link in the point below is where I registered. I was helped with the process by the Customer Care Exec named Priyanka, her business number is <+1-647-309-5658>.</p>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Some helpful links:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.comparecellular.ca/compare-plans-in-ontario/prepaid-phones-and-sim-cards">CompareCellular.ca</a></li>
<li><a href="https://canadiansim.com/">Canadiansim.com</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.fido.ca/">Fido.ca</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>The SIM that I currently have, FIDO, also has referral bonuses where both those who refer and the one who is referred get one month free of cost irrespective of plans. This is my referral link: <a href="https://referme.to/pritesht-11">referme.to/pritesht-11</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>Get CAD cash or Forex Card</p>
<ul>
<li>This is only for emergencies. If you have your room booked and travel arrangements made, then you won't really need any of it.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>I brought around 500$ in cash with me, most of which I deposited back in the bank after opening my account. You can bring up to 10,000$ dollars cash, beyond which you need to submit a declaration at customs and what-have-yous.</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<p>Find a room</p>
<ul>
<li>I found my room through a WhatsApp group. I recommend joining similar groups on Facebook and Instagram as well.</li>
<li>Beyond social media, you can rent a place from <a href="https://www.kijiji.ca/">kijiji.ca</a> and <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/">airbnb</a></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>Try not to get pressured into a long-term lease, if you must move elsewhere after a few months for any reason. Also, ensure to have a video call to check the property first. There may be some token amount for booking, but do not pay it before verifying everything.</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<p>Get RTO Extract (For those who have a driving license)</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Just submit a letter to an RTO where you got your license and they will give you a printout of your extract.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>You can use this extract to expedite your Canadian driving license process.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>Update ArriveCAN details (2 days before the flight)</p>
<ul>
<li>ArriveCAN is used as the official app for traveler verification in Canada. More info <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/services/arrivecan.html">here</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>Shopping and Packing</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://nextcloud.priteshtupe.com/s/iLimMZPn7RYXt6z">Generic Packing List 1</a></li>
<li><a href="https://nextcloud.priteshtupe.com/s/FEG9NdJ9qaRgnnN">Generic Packing List 2</a></li>
<li><a href="https://nextcloud.priteshtupe.com/s/8wMDfK3HapNjxZs">My Personal Packing List</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<h2>Phase 4: Post Arrival</h2>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Undergo Immigration Check</p>
<ul>
<li>They may ask a few questions regarding your stay, college, course, financial status, etc. In return, you get a printed copy of your Study Permit (and Co-Op Work permit if your course has it).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>Activate Bank Account</p>
<ul>
<li>I had to book an appointment for CIBC; For Scotia, I heard it was walk-in. Either way, you'll know what to do when you submit your GIC.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>Activate SIM Card</p>
<ul>
<li>As I mentioned before, I got my SIM while I was still in India. It was activated automatically a day before my flight, so after touching Canada, I simply popped it into my phone and I had access.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>Get a SIN Card</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>A SIN Card is like Social Security (or Aadhar) Card. If you get a job in Canada, your employer will ask for SIN to put your records and payments against. More about SIN <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/sin.html">here</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>While a majority of people coming here apply for SIN by visiting Service Canada in person, it is not known by many that we can get SIN by applying online too! I did mine online and got it within 2 weeks. There is no difference in either, except that in-person you get it same day but have to stand in a line for hours.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>College-specific stuff</p>
<ul>
<li>I received my College ID from college; it also doubles as a bus pass. You'll also get your health care and other college-related stuff done in the first few weeks.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<hr />
<p>And that is all folks! I hope the outline above gives you some sense of where you stand and what next steps you need to take. Feel free to comment in the box below if you have some questions. Happy Journey!</p>
A quick look at Git Hooks2024-01-13T00:00:00Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/posts/git-hooks/<h2>What are git hooks?</h2>
<p>Straight from the horse's mouth:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hooks are programs you can place in a hooks directory to trigger actions at certain points in git’s execution.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://git-scm.com/docs/githooks">git-scm.com</a></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<h2>How to quickly add a git hook?</h2>
<p>Inside your git repository:</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Open <code>.git/hooks/pre-commit</code>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Add the following sample script:</p>
</li>
</ol>
<pre><code class="language-sh">#!/usr/bin/env bash
echo -e "\n\nPre-commit hook has been triggered\n\n"
</code></pre>
<ol start="3">
<li>Make is executable (if it isn't already).</li>
</ol>
<pre><code class="language-sh">$ chmod u+x .git/hooks/pre-commit
</code></pre>
<ol start="4">
<li>Profit! <em>Try running the <code>git commit</code> command in that repo.</em></li>
</ol>
<h2>A more useful example maybe?</h2>
<p>Sure, I have a pre-commit git hook written that... Well, let me just show you:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">#!/bin/sh
set -euo pipefail
STAGED=$(git diff --cached --name-only | xargs)
# Lint
yarn eslint --fix $STAGED
# Format
yarn prettier --write $STAGED
# Type check
yarn tsc --noEmit
# Test
yarn jest
# Re-stage
git add $STAGED
</code></pre>
<p>This little script does linting, formatting, type checking, and unit testing before the staged files are ready to commit. As a side note, see line 5 to get only staged files. The <code>pipefail</code> command runs the script in "strict mode"; see <a href="https://priteshtupe.com/notes/shell/">Shell Notes</a> for more details.</p>
<h2>What's this <code>core.hooksPath</code>?</h2>
<p>As above, by default, hooks are placed in <code>.git/hooks</code> directory. We can have them hooks in another directory inside the repo (e.g. ./hooks) and as such ensure that everyone gets a copy of it when they clone a repo. Then you can have an initialization script (like 'preinstall' for package.json) that does the <code>git config core.hooksPath hooks</code> and voila! hooks installed just like that.</p>
<h2>Must they always be bash scripts?</h2>
<p>NO. You can have <em>any</em> script that executes. Here's another example of pre-commit in Nodejs:</p>
<pre><code class="language-javascript">#!/usr/bin/env node
console.log("\n\nPre-commit hook in Nodejs has been triggered\n\n")
</code></pre>
<p>And Python:</p>
<pre><code class="language-python">#!/usr/bin/env python
print("\n\nPre-commit hook in Python has been triggered\n\n")
</code></pre>
<h2>Alright, where can I learn more?</h2>
<p>Here ya go:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://git-scm.com/docs/githooks">git-scm</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://githooks.com/">githooks</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/git-hooks">Atlassian tutorial</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Thanks for reading and happy hacking!</p>
Prologue2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Prologue/<h2>Prologue</h2>
<p>I opened my eyes to a dark sky.</p>
<p>‘Not a cloud in sight. Hmm, no stars even in this dark? Interesting… Hold up, Why am I looking for stars? Where the hell am I?’</p>
<p>There was diffused lighting about, the kind you would get on a late sunny evening, but I couldn't pinpoint a source. My wandering hands found hold of dry grass beneath my prone body. 'Grass...?' I quickly got up and glanced around. A generic grassy landscape surrounded by what looked to be high cliffs on all sides but one. I noticed a crowd gathered on that side, so that was where I made my way.</p>
<p>As I sauntered over to the group, I saw a figure floating in the air and did a quick double-take. ‘What the hell!’ There was a woman in Egyptian-esque costume floating in the air, her eyes closed. Surrounded by 5 more people. Thankfully, the people were quite grounded and looked as confused as I felt. From the looks of it, they had gathered quite recently as well. Just as I was about to ask what the fuck was going on, the floating woman opened her eyes to reveal bright amber pupils, looked over us all as if making sure we were paying attention, then exclaimed:</p>
<p>“Welcome... To the Grand Simulation!”</p>
<p>The Cleopatra look-alike continued after a slight pause, “You all have been chosen as test subjects for acceptance testing of Grand Simulation v389.12.425. My name is Betty, and I am here to answer any and all the questions you have. Please ask away!”</p>
<p>One of the people standing around, a tall wiry-thin blond woman, quickly asked: “Where the hell am I?” ‘Well, you took the words right out of my mouth there sister.’ Betty glared at the woman and answered without missing a beat, “You are currently in the Spawn Point for test subjects. The Spawn Point is located inside the Tutorial Dungeon. The Tutorial Dungeon is located in the memory region of the Simulation itself; it is, however, removed from the space and time constraints of the main program!”</p>
<p>The blonde had her mouth hanging open. I noticed that after I managed to gather my own slack jaws. Before anyone else could ask anything else, I spoke up: “How do we get back home?” Betty’s orange eyes, which were trained on the blonde so far, now bore into me. They seemed devoid of life for some reason. She spoke in her eerie voice again: “To get out of the Tutorial, and the Simulation as a whole, you must be deleted; in other words, you must die.” Not only did our mouths hang open again like a sinkhole, I felt several hearts skip a beat, or perhaps just mine skipping more than once. We all looked at each other, but no one spoke for a while.</p>
<p>“Anoo… How are you flying?” a black-haired youth on my left asked. He had been gawking at Betty for a while. ‘Quite the silver-lining kind of guy we have here; also she is not flying, just floating,’ I argued uselessly in my mind. Betty turned to him in her mechanical manner - I was glad she wasn't staring at me anymore. “It is a spell that inverses gravity until the mass of this body is balanced by the pull in either direction at an elevation of 2.73 meters off the ground.”</p>
<p>While that was a lot to chew on, I immediately caught on something - ‘float SPELL?’ Apparently, the kid did as well; he was practically shaking with excitement. “You can do magic?” he asked with obvious excitement. She replied again - perhaps it was only me, but it looked like she was expecting this question, “Why yes! Everyone in the Simulation can cast spells and do magic. Even you! Some Classes are restricted to only using said spells while other Classes can actively tweak other spells or create new ones entirely!” ‘Classes? Magic? What…?’</p>
<p>“Ummm… Is there any other way of getting out of this… simulation, besides, you know, dying?” a fair doe-eyed girl asked from beside the blonde. “I’m afraid there isn't.” Betty replied and continued eyeing the poor girl as if mocking her. While everyone digested that, I put in another question, “What are we supposed to do here?” Betty set her glare on me again, “First, you must complete the Tutorial to get to the base Level of human adults in the Simulation. Once you finish the Tutorial and enter the Simulation, you are free to do as you wish.”</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Betty wasn't going anywhere soon; the blonde had confirmed that. So there we stood, awkwardly introducing ourselves at blondie's insistence. She went first:</p>
<p>“You all can call me Julie. I’m a lawyer and I live in Berlin,” she said and looked around for whoever was going next. Apparently we were doing the name-place-occupation introduction. A slightly plump girl with a reddish hair-do by her side coughed slightly to get everyone’s attention.</p>
<p>I noticed that there were three women, all on my right, grouped up. And two guys standing some distance apart to my left. The curious kid and another slightly overweight guy. Everyone looked either around my age of mid-20s or younger. The girl continued her introduction since no one interrupted:</p>
<p>“I’m Carol, Irish. I am studying Uni.” With that, she did a slight nod of her head and stepped back. If not for the current situation, I could see her being the life of a party, or mischievous in general. No one spoke up next, so I did.</p>
<p>“Name’s Pat. I’m a software developer.” I said my piece and looked around for the next intro. The curious guy went next:</p>
<p>“Hajimemashta, my name is Taro. I am 17 years old, a high school student from Japan.” He glanced around with a carefree smile as if he knew some secret no one else did. ‘What I’d give to know where his cheery attitude comes from!’</p>
<p>“Divin’s the name, I am from Congo. I own a small business,” said the last guy in a deep voice. The only remaining girl had the attention of us all; she didn't seem too keen on talking but spoke nonetheless:</p>
<p>“I am Arya,” she said simply. ‘To the point, are we?’</p>
<p>‘Good, now that that’s done, back to getting the hell out of doge,’ I thought. Apparently, so did everyone else, as we all turned back to Betty for an in-depth interrogation session. ‘Please let this just be some weird dream,’ I prayed.</p>
<p>If only I knew the kind of shit I was going to end up in, I might have prayed harder. A lot harder…</p>
Chapter 1 - Chat Bot2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%201%20-%20Chat%20Bot/<h2>Chapter 1 - Chat Bot</h2>
<p>"Why are we here?" (Julie)</p>
<p>"You all are test subjects for -" (Betty)</p>
<p>"No, I mean, why are <em>we</em> here? Why us?" (Julie)</p>
<p>"Oh, you were randomly sampled from your planet with uniform distribution of gender and location. Also, your fluency towards a common language and your age bracket favored your selection to a degree." (Betty)</p>
<p>"..."</p>
<p>"Can't you just send us back?" (Carol, looking a bit hopeful)</p>
<p>"I'm afraid I cannot do that." (Betty)</p>
<p>"How do I do magic?" (Taro, still excited)</p>
<p>"First, you must select a Class. There are 6 base Classes that humans can choose from, although you may choose only one; all Classes have the ability to cast magic. However, only Healer and Mage Classes can create spells on their own. Other Classes rely on their Skills to intuitively cast magic." (Betty)</p>
<p>"Sweet, how do I get a Class?" (Taro)</p>
<p>"To get a - " (Betty)</p>
<p>"Wait, hold on. What the hell is this? Just how are we here? Am I dreaming or something? Why can't you send us back home? You basically kidnapped us and are now forcing us to do whatever. I want to go back!" (Me, slightly losing it)</p>
<p>"This is the Tutorial Dungeon. You are not dreaming. You can leave the Simulation by deleting yourself." (Betty)</p>
<p>"OK, so how did you bring us here? I don't remember being nabbed or anything." (Me)</p>
<p>"I did not bring you here, I am here just to answer your questions." (Betty)</p>
<p>"So... <em>How</em> exactly did we end up here?" (Arya, backing me up)</p>
<p>"I'm afraid I cannot answer that." (Betty)</p>
<p>"Why not?" (Me)</p>
<p>"I'm afraid I cannot answer that" (Betty)</p>
<p>"Yeah I know, you just said that. I'm asking why not?" (Me, exasperated)</p>
<p>"I'm afraid I cannot answer that" (Betty)</p>
<p>"..."</p>
<p>"She's a dammed chatbot! Just great! Stuck inside a simulation with a bunch of strangers and a smart-ass bot." (Me, mumbling)</p>
<p>"You're a chatbot, aren't you?" (Me)</p>
<p>"I'm afraid I cannot - " (Betty)</p>
<p>"Of course you can't..." (Me, grumbling to myself again)</p>
<p>"Ano... How do I get a Class again?" (Taro, looking at me as if asking me to shut up)</p>
<p>"To get a Class, you must open up your Status Window. You can open your Status Window by swiping up with a finger. Before you select a Class, I recommend going through the descriptions to get one most suited to yourself, as you will be stuck with that Class and its evolution tree for the rest of Simulation" (Betty)</p>
<p>Everyone swiped their finger in the air and got a glazed look in their eyes, as if doing mental calculus. I swiped as well, and a thin slightly-transparent black rectangular window the size of an iPad faded in like a power-point animated slide. It was empty save for two things - a "Select Class" red glowing text and a tiny tilde ~ symbol at the bottom right. I was about to click on "Select Class" when I heard Divin, who had been silent so far, speak up.</p>
<p>"Why are you dressed like that?" (Divin, deadpanned)</p>
<p>"This Simulation and everything in it has been constructed with inspiration taken from your planet's stories from the ages, be they history or fantasy. As for this particular attire, it was meant to stand out so I could attract your attention when you spawn here." (Betty)</p>
<p>"Is that so..." (Divin, quieting down)</p>
<p>Now dragged out of our concentration from admiring the Status Windows, another barrage of questions was fired at Betty.</p>
<p>"What about our necessities? Like food, water, and so on?" (Julie)</p>
<p>"You do not need sustenance in the Tutorial Dungeon. This place is outside of the main program and not subject to the same space and time constraints; as such you are exempt from hunger, thirst, and sleep for the duration of your stay. You will, however, get injured or fatigued as you expend Health or Stamina Points, and will require treatment or rest to reclaim." (Betty)</p>
<p>"So we just, what, finish this Tutorial and get out of here?" (Arya)</p>
<p>"The Tutorial aims to bring you to the baseline of an adult human in the Simulation. You may act alone, or in groups. I will, however, follow along until you have completed the Tutorial Dungeon to answer any and all questions you have. Please ask away!" (Betty)</p>
<p>No one asked anything. Apparently, Betty was going to stick around, or rather float around, for quite a while. We all went back to our Status Windows to read the Class descriptions.</p>
Chapter 2 - Class Selection2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%202%20-%20Class%20Selection/<h2>Chapter 2 - Class Selection</h2>
<p>I clicked on "Select Class" text. Nothing happened. My hand went through the window. I looked at the interface for a while. I tried touching the tilde symbol. Same nothing. I looked about and saw others going through similar ordeals.</p>
<p>Eventually, Taro whined impatiently at Betty, "Nothing is happening, my finger goes through it! How do I click on this?" Betty immediately answered, "Physical interaction with the Status Window was phased out 254 major versions ago, to 'click' on an item, simply focus on the same. While a bit unwieldy at first, statistics indicate that such interaction is 28 times more efficient than the previous one."</p>
<p>I focused on the text more than I normally would - like how one does when trying to glean the time instead of just looking at a watch face, and immediately the screen was replaced by a bunch of sections - six, to be precise. I slowly scrolled through each section, reading the brief description of each.</p>
<hr />
<p>KNIGHT - Base Class</p>
<p>Knights are adept at mêlée combat; very high Strength attribute with the ability to use quick Skills in addition to a sword and keep up a good defense simultaneously.</p>
<p>SCOUT - Base Class</p>
<p>With high Agility and Stealth attributes, Scouts generally prepare for the arrival of the main party - be it by securing the route ahead or scoping out the enemy camp for potential incursion points.</p>
<p>HEALER - Base Class</p>
<p>With a good leg up on Intelligence and Endurance attributes, Healers take care of their health, and that of others, by topping it off with pre-defined Skills or customized spells.</p>
<p>CRAFTSMAN - Base Class</p>
<p>Low but well-rounded attributes, Craftsmen get an extra utility Skill on each Class Upgrade. They modify or create items, enchantments, and structures from scratch with the right materials and Skills.</p>
<p>ARCHER - Base Class</p>
<p>Focusing on Dexterity and Agility, Archers either distracts an opponent so the party can get close or goes in for the fatal shot on a distracted one, adapting to the situation as required.</p>
<p>MAGE - Base Class</p>
<p>Very high Intelligence at the cost of other attributes. Instead of getting a pre-defined Skill when leveling up, craft highly specialized and equally deadly personal spells.</p>
<hr />
<p>Ha... My Class was set a while ago when Betty mentioned them for the first time. Any RPG game I played, it was always as the high-powered ranged magical attack type character. As Pyromancers, Wizards, Sorcerers, and other similar ones. Here I focused on selecting that Class and the window went back to the main screen describing my Class and current status.</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Novice] Mage - Level 0</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Status</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Health</td>
<td>100/100</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mana</td>
<td>800/800</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stamina</td>
<td>20/20</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Experience</td>
<td>0/100</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Attributes</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Strength</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vitality</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dexterity</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence</td>
<td>9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Perception</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdom</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Special Effects:</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Magic Boost - You get extra Intelligence, Perception, and/or Wisdom Points on every Class Upgrade</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>I was feeling quite good about my choice. I looked around to see that others were still absorbed in their screens. I waited a minute, then another. After 5 minutes, I was quite sure something was amiss. I asked Betty about the Tutorial to while away time. According to her, there were 20 levels going down until the "Exit Portal" at the bottom. We were currently on level 0. You couldn't enter a higher level unless you were at that level or higher. She mentioned that the tutorial was tailored to get us to level 20, which was the baseline of adult humans in this (well, the "outer" simulated) world. She wouldn't go in-depth about the environment of any level and other details, so I figured it was more "explore-and-exploit" kind of thing the creators were going for. She wouldn't answer who the creators were, what or who the test was by, and for, or absolutely anything that had nothing to do with the Simulation itself. I tried several different variations but her lips were sealed tight. This back and forth went on for another few minutes when people started coming to. I looked around to hear what they had chosen. Hopefully, not everyone had chosen the Mage Class.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Man, the Mage Class is so nerfed! And here I was, foolishly looking forward to it." Taro exclaimed. 'Wait, what?'</p>
<p>"Yeah," Carol agreed, "When I looked at the detailed description and attribute distribution, it was even below the Craftsman Class. Anyway, I chose the Scout. What about you two?" 'Heh?'</p>
<p>"I chose Knight," he said - as if it should have been obvious, and looked at me expectantly.</p>
<p>"Ummm, what do you mean when you say the Mage Class is nerfed? And what's this about attribute distribution?" I asked them instead. To which Taro replied, "Well when you focus on a certain Class, you could see in-depth information about their capabilities, roles, and growth potentials. I say Mage is nerfed because that Class does not get any Skills as other Classes do. They have to create spells on their own to use magic. Why would anyone want to do research here?" After a pause, he continued, "Also, all the attributes were lowest I could see compared to others - even craftsmen had a good 3 on most. What's the point of starting with lots of mana when you can't even use it, right? And I don't even know how one would go about building customized spells - sounds like a lot of work to me." Taro concluded. All I could think of was - 'Well, shit!'</p>
<p>Carol chimed in, "Yeah, I even got 3 special effects for my Class. I believe Mage had only one. What Skills did you get for the Knight, Taro?" The conversation continued; eventually, the rest of the girls joined in. Arya took the Healer Class, Julie the Archer. Finally, Divin joined in too. Apparently, he had taken the Knight Class as well. There was a bit of hubbub over there not being any Craftsman, but I was too engaged in cursing my own stupidity and impatience to notice much of what was being said at the moment.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>After a while, I told them that I had taken the Mage Class. All I got were a few confused looks in return. It seems that the attributes were also dependent on the Class. As such, the Knight Class had a "Vigor" attribute that resulted in extra HP regeneration, while the Scout had "Stealth" attribute - I had neither. Healer had an "Attunement" that affected the rate of healing applied to others. I realized I had no clue what effects attributes had, so took another look at the Status Window, this time willing it to show me attribute description.</p>
<hr />
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Attribute</th>
<th>Affects</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Strength</td>
<td>Physical attack damage dealt and received</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vitality</td>
<td>Health Points</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility</td>
<td>Physical speed</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dexterity</td>
<td>Physical range</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence</td>
<td>Mana Points</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Perception</td>
<td>Magical range</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdom</td>
<td>Magical attack damage dealt and received</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<hr />
<p>'I see. Brief and not much description about the intricacies but enough for the bad news. I have no special health regeneration; and every monster and their mother would notice me without the stealth attribute.' Others also had a "Skills" section below "Special Effects" with one Skill each already. While I was reading the attribute description, Carol was trying out a Skill to silent her footsteps. With magic. And here I was - a Mage, twiddling my thumbs. Yeah, I was pretty pissed at myself.</p>
Chapter 3 - Level 02024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%203%20-%20Level%200/<h2>Chapter 3 - Level 0</h2>
<p>A dream is only a dream after you wake up. While you are dreaming, it becomes your reality. I believe all of us here had taken being kidnapped quite well, considering everything. At least no one broke down. I could tell Carol was putting up a brave front. Taro was actively enjoying it. Julie was still on the fence about whether to laugh or cry, but she was distracting herself by taking charge. Arya was silently sulking. I couldn't get a read on Divin though. As for me? I was wondering what my folks at home would be up to, they must've lost it by now. I decided to ask the Betty about it, not expecting an answer, "Hey, what about the people back on our planet, surely they would've noticed us missing?" Surprisingly, I got a response. "The Simulation is not subject to the space-time constraints of your world; just like the Tutorial is separate from the Simulation, the Simulation is separate from your reality." 'Ah, makes sense. It is like time has stopped there, eh?'</p>
<p>We gathered around Betty, ready to go where fate would lead us. Julie was just about to say something when Betty spoke up again - "So, you have all got your Classes, allow me to lend your starting equipment!" So saying, she raised her hand and down came a stream of light in front of each of us. Two swords in front of Taro and Divin, a bow and quiver full of arrows in front of Julie, a dagger for Carol and staff for Arya. I got nothing. "Ummm, my equipment seems to be missing?" I queried. "Mages don't need a physical weapon to attack," she said. 'What, are you kidding me?'. "At least, give me a dagger or something, just in case!" I begged. "I'm afraid I cannot." I looked around and got only sympathetic looks. I didn't give up though, "But I do not know any magic spells. How am I supposed to defend myself?" "I'd recommend creating a spell," she said. "I didn't really go to Hogwarts, you know. I have absolutely no clue how to go about making or using a spell!" I bit back. "While I do not have the data of how you should create your spell, I am certain you must use your Status Window to create one. For reference, allow me to upload my floating spell into your repository..."</p>
<p>I opened up my Status Window again and immediately noticed that the tilde (~) symbol at the bottom was bold. I focused on it and a terminal-like screen opened up. It was blank save for one line:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">float o = while [ o.elevation -lt 2.73 ]; do (( _____.gravity-- )); done;
</code></pre>
<p>I was dumbstruck. 'Shit... It's a goddamn piece of code. True, it looks like an unholy mix of bash script and Haskell, with objects thrown in for fun; but I understand it nonetheless, despite the redacted bit. And I actually have a shell to work on? Fucking A!' I almost did a small victory dance but contained myself hastily. My smile must have betrayed me, however, as Arya had a weird look in her eyes.</p>
<p>"Perhaps we should get going now?" Julie broke the awkward silence and looked at Betty. Betty didn't move a muscle. Seems like she meant it literally when she said she will be <em>following</em> us. Another moment later, Julie huffed a bit, shouldered her bow and arrows, then led the way out of the Spawn Point clearing. Just as we stepped out of the choke point leading out onto a wide road, Betty turned from Cleopatra to Will-'O-the-Wisp. It was Carol who spoke up, "Why'd ya turn into a ball of light?" to which Betty replied, "It is easier to split into multiple entities in this form, and it is also lighter on resource consumption" 'Ah, she did say she would follow us all even after we went individually. So this is how. Weird, but logical.' Apparently, Carol thought so too, because she didn't have any follow-up questions.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>The unremarkable road eventually lead us to an unremarkable field. It was big enough to fit a couple of football stadiums. Albeit barren of any fauna, it was sprouting something oozy in large quantities. Wait, are these slimes? "What is this?" Julie enquired, motioning in the general direction of the slimes. Betty-the-wisp spoke up, "This is Level 0 of the Tutorial Dungeon - The Slime Field" 'Clever naming sense there' "The entrance to Level 1 is on the opposite side of our current position; you must cross this field and reach level 1 before you can proceed to the next Level"</p>
<p>I looked around the field. If was filled with slimes of all sizes and colors. The one thing they all had in common was how lazily they were ambling towards nowhere in particular. I was quite absorbed in taking in the view, so I missed the moment when Taro and Julie made their move. Taro jumped ahead, sword held up in both hands in front of him, while Julie took out her bow and notched an arrow. This was when I noticed their actions and thought to myself 'We should have made a plan first. Even a signal would've been appreciated'.</p>
<p>Julie let loose the arrow, which zoomed in quite rapidly towards a particularly large green slime ball. I was impressed - until it harmlessly hit the ground. Taro wasn't faring any better. He tried slashing his sword into a smaller blue slime, but the creature brushed it off and bounced back. The attack had caused a commotion and three more slimes were headed to Taro's location. Another arrow, another slash - no effect. The slimes were gathering. Carol had joined in at some point, covering Taro's flank. Divin, Arya and I were standing a distance away, behind Julie.</p>
<p>The other slimes were now closer and surrounding Taro and Carol. Some others were headed in our direction, probably due to Julie digging up dirt near them with her arrows. Suddenly, a blue slime jumped out of the crowd and slammed into Taro's chest. He fell flat on his butt. Carol came to him and gave him her hand when another yellow slime smashed into her back. Thankfully, she braced herself somehow. Both of them ran back to where we were standing. Julie also stopped shooting. The crowd of slimes was now considerable and headed in our direction like an avalanche. We hightailed it out of there and almost came back to the Spawn Point itself.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Well, that sucked!" Julie started, "I am down to half my arrows" she moaned.</p>
<p>"I tried hitting their core, but they kept slipping in and out of the crowd" Taro continued.</p>
<p>"Perhaps we need a plan?" Carol chimed in.</p>
<p>"Yes. They are attracted to arrows, which we can use to draw one in; isolate it from others and destroy its core." Divin suggested.</p>
<p>This back and forth continued while I realized there wasn't anything I could contribute. 'No, can't keep things like this. Need to create a spell somehow.' I excused myself, letting them know of my intentions and headed further back to the center of the Spawn Point.</p>
<p>While I hyped myself up, I couldn't change the fact that I had no clue what to do. A splinter of Betty followed me, the original staying with the rest. I opened up my Status Window and focused on the tilde symbol. The terminal opened up and I gave it a closer look.</p>
<p>Focus with an intent - this was how I concluded the interaction worked. So I focused on the window, willing it to write down the words in my head. Wait, what spell do I want? Let's go with the most generic one.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">fireball =
</code></pre>
<p>'Holy Shit! Is this awesome or what? Editing with literal thoughts. These guys have achieved <em>perfection</em> itself!'</p>
<p>It took me a minute to wrap my head around this, but eventually, I calmed down. I looked at the float spell again. It took an argument of 'o'. 'Perhaps I could give a target to the fireball with an argument? How do I actually throw a ball of fire anyway? Wish there was a manual page I could refer to - man, do I miss the internet! Oh wait, I have a literal AI chatbot by my side. Let's see if I can scrape something out of her. It is only a matter of asking the right questions!'</p>
<p>"Hey Betty, do you know how I can create a fireball spell?" I asked a straight question, not expecting an answer. I wasn't disappointed. "I'm afraid I do not," she said. "So, how do I interact with the environment?" I continued. "You must use the environment variables," she replied. For a moment I thought she was having a laugh. She wasn't. 'OK good, got something' "How do I list the environment variables?" I asked. "I'm afraid I cannot answer that." 'Hmm... Would've been nice if you could' I decided to change the phrasing slightly, "How do I <em>use</em> the environment variables?" "You can modify the environment variables in your spell by focusing your intent inside the Status Window." 'Damn, no luck. Wait, how did she pass an argument to her float spell?' like a light bulb went off in my head, I was almost giddy when I asked her "Can you show me how you cast the float spell?" In retrospect, this should have been my first question, but I wasn't going to demean myself. While I was wondering about my shortcomings, she changed from her wisp form back to Cleopatra. I leveled a hard stare, not willing to miss a single twitch or whisper out of her. And then, she cast the float spell.</p>
Chapter 4 - Gesture Input2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%204%20-%20Gesture%20Input/<h2>Chapter 4 - Gesture Input</h2>
<p>Betty took a few steps away from me. Raised her hands with palms towards her torso, then spoke in a clear voice - 'float'. As she rose from the ground, it seemed as if cobwebs were clearing in my mind. I gaped at her as she stabilized herself, but my thoughts were far away.</p>
<p>'Is this how a spell is cast then? You choose your target as an argument with your palms, then call the function - err spell, by name. She passed her own body as the argument, and now she is floating!'</p>
<p>I quickly opened my Status Window and got into the terminal. I erased the float spell with a thought. With another, I modified my fireball spell.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">fireball x = x.
</code></pre>
<p>Well, I still didn't know how to call fire. I could choose any target into x and ignite it. 'Hmm... Environment variables she says? How about I just raise the temperature of the target to make it seem like it is on fire? Yeah, that could work' After another quick edit,</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">fireball x = (( x.temperature++ ))
</code></pre>
<p>'Wait, increasing temperature by a degree would barely make the thing feverish. I need it to BURNNN. How about I double it?'</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">fireball x = (( x.temperature = x.temperature * 2 ))
</code></pre>
<p>I was itching to test it on something; so I closed my Status Window. Betty was back in her wisp form already. I looked at the ball of light - what if... No. It would be a tragically funny if a powerful Chat Bot went Rambo on me right now. I instead chose a patch of grass about 10 meters away. While the grass was dry, it was thankfully sparse overall. I could fireball it without needing a fire extinguisher. Taking a deep breath, I raised my hand. My palm was pointing towards a clump of a particularly dense patch. I spoke out as serenely as I could - 'fireball'. Nothing happened.</p>
<p>While the test was technically a failure, I did notice one important thing. When I raised my hand to "select" the clump of grass, I could somehow tell that it was too far away. Perhaps my Perception was too low? I lowered my hand, now pointing to a blade of grass a couple of meters away. No sooner had I spoken the magic word that the blade seemed to swoon. Its color had also gotten a bit darker. Test Successful! I cast fireball again on the same blade and its color went pitch black. Even in the dark evening-like ambiance, it stood out from its peers. A slight breeze disintegrated it before my eyes.</p>
<p>As I noticed that, another crazy idea popped into my nugget. Why stop at double? Why not square it? Heck, I could call it recursively until my target is vaporized! Man, I don't care what others say, but the Mage Class is not nerfed AT ALL. In fact, it is way too overpowered! Who cares about some attributes or special effects when you can simply smite stuff into oblivion? I immediately added a multiplier in my spell and cast it on another unfortunate blade of grass nearby. My expectations of utter destruction were betrayed however, as this time, nothing happened at all. Not even a small change in color. I reopened my Status Window and checked to see if I hadn't made any typos with my mind, but the code looked good. 'Oh wait, what is this?'</p>
<p>I had failed to notice it in my excitement earlier, but my Mana Point was down to 240 from the original 800. Did I just use up 560 points of mana to burn a blade of grass? As for why the last spell didn't work, I simply didn't have enough mana left. Guess Mages ain't so overpowered after all.</p>
<p>As I was resting to recover my mana - which according to Betty was quicker for Mages, I thought about the spell I just cast. Impressive as it was, it certainly wasn't what I expected. No literal fiery balls were shot around. How would one go about that, I wondered? Not that it mattered much, I now had an actual attack. Misnomer though it was. 'Hell, why not change it?' It didn't take me long to come up with a pretty original and totally not stolen name -</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">incendio x = (( x.temperature = x.temperature * x.temperature ))
</code></pre>
<p>I was quite proud of myself, as I decided to write another function that went the other way, with a similar naming scheme.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">petrificus_totalus x = (( x.temperature = 0 ))
</code></pre>
<p>'Boom! Freeze mofo, all the way down to zero!!!'</p>
<p>While waiting for my mana to top off, I tried to remember all sorts of spells that Harry - err, that I could come up with on my own.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>After maybe an hour or so, I headed back to where the others were. I spent the entire time testing out my abilities and limitations. In between, I had to wait for my mana to recover. Apparently, it was supposed to be slower than Stamina regen of seconds to minutes but faster than Health regen of hours to days. For a Mage, it inched quite close to Stamina. All according to Betty, of course. I couldn't get my Status Window to show actual values. In fact, I had trimmed it further. Removed all attributes - I could feel their effects anyway, and rearranged the status points. I also added a list of spells I had in my repository.</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Novice] Mage - Level 0</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>HP</th>
<th>MP</th>
<th>SP</th>
<th>XP</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>100/100</td>
<td>786/800</td>
<td>20/20</td>
<td>0/100</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Spells</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Incendio</li>
<li>Petrificus Totalus</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Special Effects</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Magic Boost - You get extra Intelligence, Perception, and/or Wisdom points on every Class Upgrade</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>Yep, I decided to have only two spells for now. It had been quite a while already. Time flies by when you're having fun. Besides, I was itching to witness my spells "in production". Poor slime balls.</p>
<p>I also learned quite a few things about magic and spell casting. One couldn't directly change the core stats and attributes of a target. Setting HP to zero in one spell would've turned me into the fabled One Spell Man. Too bad. Also, my range was about 2 meters radius, centered around me. Depending on the factors involved, I could either fully cast a spell or not cast it at all. No half measures. I tried freezing a large region of land as an Area Effect attack. No luck. I simply couldn't "select" an area to cast in, just one specific target. Also, all spell-casts took the same amount of mana, irrespective of the target, given that they could be affected. A blade of grass, piece of a boulder and a grain of sand - all took 280 MP on Incendio, even though the effects were dramatically different on each.</p>
<p>As I exited the choke point and traveled across the bridge, I eventually sighted my accomplices. A few colored puddles were splashed about as if a painter had upended his paints in frustration. Up ahead, I saw one unlucky slime being whaled on by Taro, Divin, and Carol with their respective blades. Julie was standing back with the bow in one hand and a loose arrow in another, staring intently but with no apparent intention of firing. Wise choice I suppose, given her aim. Arya was standing beside Julie watching the spectacle. She noticed me as I made my way over and waved her hand awkwardly. I stood silently by their side, becoming a part of the audience. "Any luck with the spell?" she asked. "Oh, you have no idea!" I replied with a smirk.</p>
Chapter 5 - Slime Fest2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%205%20-%20Slime%20Fest/<h2>Chapter 5 - Slime Fest</h2>
<p>While seemingly magical, slimes were no better than mundane beasts when it came to intellect. They were attracted by sound (or vibrations, to be precise) and attacked in a variety of ways, usually depending on their size. The golf ball-sized ones tried to trip you by spreading at your feet. Mostly though, they fled confrontation. The slightly larger ones - about the size of basketballs, bounced at you every now and then while fleeting in and out of your range. The larger ones, the size of large dogs and over, simply tried to crush everything in their path. Perhaps consume the target with the intention of suffocating them. We hadn't encountered anything larger than a pony. The most dangerous ones of the bunch were the bouncy balls, their speed and hit were no joke. At least the larger ones were sluggish and smaller ones inconsequential. Thankfully, we hadn't encountered any actual magical slimes. Like fire-wielding ones. Hell, there weren't any acidic or poisonous ones either. All they had was physical attack. Pure XP grind.</p>
<p>The slimes were also immune to physical damage. Until you hit their "core," that is. Their death transformed them into puddles. No one had yet tried pure magic on them; magical skills though did seem to damage them. Divin had a Skill that did freeze damage with a slash of his sword. It was currently the group's trump card to slowing a slime down just enough to allow Taro to pierce its heart. Taro had a Skill that sharpened his strikes. Julie laid the bait, Carol ran interference. Surprisingly, Arya was the busiest of all! After our small chat, having recovered her mana, she dived back into the slaughter and spread her hands in front of Taro. A glowing light around his bruised elbow indicated she was healing him.</p>
<p>Just as the healing stopped, Carol pushed the slime in Divin's direction. He froze it with a large swing. Taro took the opportunity to crack the fist-sized core and add a new pinkish puddle to the palette. They all came back, probably to recover their stamina while Julie went on to collect her arrows. I decided to have a go at the next slime.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Damn, how many did you get already?" (Me, admiring the polychrome ground after everyone had gathered around)</p>
<p>"Oh, quite a few. Got some experience points as well!" (Carol, with a slight smile)</p>
<p>"Not enough though. The points are spread among all four of us and one slime doesn't give out that much in the first place." (Julie, with a sigh)</p>
<p>"Four of you...?" (Me, confused)</p>
<p>"Yeah, I don't attack the slimes. I mostly heal others." (Arya, looking embarrassed for some reason)</p>
<p>"And yet you have the most experience points of any of us!" (Taro exclaimed)</p>
<p>"Well, as I said, that is simply because I am doing so much healing; all on my own too!" (Arya defended)</p>
<p>"Out of curiosity, how many points have you guys gained?" (Me)</p>
<p>"I've got 36" (Taro) "32 here" (Carol) "29 for me" (Julie) "35" (Divin, after a while)</p>
<p>"..." (Everyone staring at Arya again)</p>
<p>"Oh, fine already. Jeez. I've got 67 now, OK?" (Arya)</p>
<p>"And I'm zero." (Me, in a slightly lower voice, mostly to myself) "Hey, how did you figure out how to heal?" (directed at Arya)</p>
<p>"Oh, it's a Skill I have. Named 'Heal', haha" (Arya, chuckling) "I kinda just figured it out."</p>
<p>"Interesting. How much mana does it take?" (Me, slightly sullen about her intuitive knowledge)</p>
<p>"Oh, about 80. I can cast 3 in a row then I need to recover" (Arya)</p>
<p>"I see. Anyway, guys, I was wondering if I can have a go at the next slime first? Wanna try out a couple of spells." (Me, looking around)</p>
<p>"Sure" "OK" "Hmm" (Positive grumbles all about)</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Betty had merged back into one. Julie was standing at the front, looking for a suitable slime to lure. I was a couple of meters behind her. Taro, Carol, and Divin were spread out behind me. Arya was at the end. Betty's light was visible beyond Arya's head, giving her a divine halo.</p>
<p>Soon enough, Julie released her bowstring. An arrow went and landed beside a smallish slime. Big enough to fit five tennis balls, I suppose. It rolled towards the arrow. As it was about to reach it, Julie let out another one, this one about halfway between the first and us. Another couple of arrows brought the slime within our striking distance. Julie retreated while I and the three behind me took her place.</p>
<p>Mana? Check. I raised my palm to the slime headed for my legs. Target selected? Check. I exhaled out stale air and filled my lungs with fresh oxygen. 'Incendio' - a slight whisper, no more. Perhaps the slime heard me? It stopped moving for a second. It then twitched and seemed to swell to twice its size. And then it popped. Even made a "pop" sound. Its core exposed to the world, still rolling on the ground towards us carried by momentum. The rest of its remains lay steaming on the ground.</p>
<p>I was dumbstruck. The others were no better off. They were looking at the core with mouths agape, shell shocked. I looked at my Status Window to make sure it really was my spell that did the trick. It was. All my mana was gone. Squaring the temperature rarely worked on anything bigger than a fist-sized object and it sucked all 800 points of my mana. Even on a small object, it was a hit and miss. True gamble, to be honest. Yet against the ill-fated slime, it was perfect. 'Whilst immune to physical damage, they are extra vulnerable to magical attacks, huh?' I surmised.</p>
<p>"Um, shouldn't we break the core?" I eventually asked. Carol moved as if in a daze and stabbed it with a dagger. My Status Window showed I had earned 11 experience points. Everyone seemed to wake up from their dreams, with varied expressions on their face.</p>
<p>"Man, what was that? Incendio? OP Skill man, how much mana does it take?," Taro was excited beyond words. "It takes all the considerable mana I have. It's not a Skill though, more of a spell" I replied, arguing semantics for no reason. "Still, it was awesome!" 'I agree, it was.' "Now we don't have to stab one a million times to kill it. That is some nice spell" Julie interjected. 'I agree, it is'. "Did you all get experience points from that one as well?" I asked. "Nah, only I got 'em," Carol said, "and only 3 though. Since you did the most damage. You gotta contribute to the fight somehow to get some, even if you don't directly hit anything. You get points according to your contribution." she concluded. "So, you guys still have to fight then," I wondered aloud. "Yes," Divin said, "but it is different now. First, we all will take shots at it. Then you explode it. Then one of us finishes it off. Much more efficient." I was of the same mind. That being said, I can't be out of the fight after a single spell - one that may or may not even work. I decided to revert to my temperature-double. If I paced myself properly, I could fight continuously for however long my mana and stamina held. 'Perhaps one spell every couple minutes. Yeah, that would work.'</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>With that, we all went on a rampage. While Incendio still popped the smaller ones, it turned the mid-sized ones into a more liquidy state from their semi-solid sludge one. The larger ones seemed to shrug it off though. But I had another spell. I had tweaked this one as well; reducing temperature to zero worked even more infrequently than squaring it. I simply halved it instead. It did not literally freeze them but slowed them all considerably. We were never swamped. Julie lured in a bunch of slimes at once, we fought on multiple fronts and gained experience at an accelerated pace.</p>
<p>No one knew how much time went by. The sky was still dusky. We weren't hungry or thirsty, let alone sleepy. Whenever we felt a bit tired, we took time out and capped off our stamina points. Then back into the fight. Julie could now hit a slime once every 5 tries on average. Divin and Taro's slashes were getting slightly more precise as if they had gotten hang of the swords' weight. Carol was getting slightly better at evading jumpy slimes while kiting them. Arya had managed to find a good pace of healing, that required the least amount of rest in between. The bouncy balls did the most damage, but it was limited to small bruises. Must have been several hours at least. Some of the earlier puddles had vanished. We only noticed it because there were patches of brown grass where supposed colorful ponds were meant to be. While the fight was not exhausting physically, it was draining in an entirely different way. If we had a 'mental capacity' point, we would all be very low on it. It was in this situation that Arya suddenly exclaimed - "Guys? I just leveled up"</p>
Chapter 6 - Level Up2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%206%20-%20Level%20Up/<h2>Chapter 6 - Level Up</h2>
<p>We had gathered around Arya, as she stood scrutinizing her updated Status Window. When she was done, we all looked at her expectantly.</p>
<p>"Umm, there isn't much actually. Nothing new." she grumbled, "I just got an extra point on all my attributes. My stats have increased a bit as well. That's it."</p>
<p>"No new Skills?" Taro asked. "None" she replied.</p>
<p>"What about a Class upgrade? Did you get that?" I questioned. She replied in a negative. 'On second thoughts, what is a Class upgrade anyway?' Apparently, Divin thought the same, as he questioned Betty about it.</p>
<p>Betty's wispy form shone brightly for a split second, then she said, "Where a Level Upgrade is a quantitative change in your Class, a Class Upgrade is a qualitative one. There are 5 upgrades that you can get every 5 Level Ups for inital evolution starting with Novice at Level 0, Competent on Level 5, Proficient on Level 10, Expert on Level 15, finally Master on Level 20."</p>
<p>"So... All we get are extra points on Level Ups? And what do you mean <em>qualitative change</em>?" Julie asked.</p>
<p>"Yes, Level Ups affect only your attribute points. Generally, you get plus one on every attribute; however, depending on your Special Effects, it may be incremented or decremented further. While it does <em>look</em> like a numerical change, it has many subtle effects that I recommend you explore on your own. As for the Class Upgrades, they are heavily dependent on what Class and Special Effects you have in place and produce a distinct change in your Status. It would take quite a while to list all possibilities. I am sure you will understand when you undergo the same." Betty concluded.</p>
<p>Arya suddenly exclaimed, "She's right. Even if it's just a plus one in numbers, it changes a lot of things. I just tried casting a Heal and not only can I cast it from further away, but it also takes less mana! Now that I have more mana as well, I can keep going with shorter breaks!"</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Our short interlude soon came to a head and we got back into the fight. Many of us were close to leveling up now. Half the field was clear of slimes as well! I popped a murky slime trying to trip Carol, froze another trying to latch onto Taro, and took a step back to get a broader view of the fight. Divin and Julie were doing fine on the left. Arya kept her distance, so she was safe for now. The freeze spell was handy; it cost a bit less mana at 240 and was quite effective at slowing the bouncy balls down for a while. The frozen slime eventually shivered a bit and got back to bouncing on Taro. I froze it again so Taro could get a clear shot at the core, and that's when it happened. I don't know <em>how</em> it happened. But I knew - I had leveled up. It certainly was a surprise to me, given I was behind everyone in XP at the start.</p>
<p>"Guys, I leveled up as well! I'm gonna go take a look at my stats," I shouted and retreated, after ensuring they didn't need my support. Not much I could do on low mana anyway. The others continued on their fight; I noticed Julie didn't draw any more slimes towards us.</p>
<p>I ran back way behind even Arya and opened my Status Window. I had hidden my attributes previously, so I made them visible again and saw what had changed.</p>
<hr />
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Attributes</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Strength</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vitality</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dexterity</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence</td>
<td>10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Perception</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdom</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<hr />
<p>'I see, plus one on each. Nothing more, nothing less. Not surprising, I suppose.' I thought. I hid them again and went back to my Status Window.</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Novice] Mage - Level 1</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>HP</th>
<th>MP</th>
<th>SP</th>
<th>XP</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>97/120</td>
<td>40/880</td>
<td>12/25</td>
<td>6/200</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Spells</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Incendio</li>
<li>Petrificus Totalus</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Special Effects</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Magic Boost - You get extra Intelligence, Perception, and/or Wisdom points on every Class Upgrade</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Ugh, I understand my low SP. Never was high on endurance training. But still only 120 HP!?! I'm pretty sure everyone else has way more than me. Also, XP requirement changed, eh? Makes sense.'</p>
<p>I made my way back to the scene of the fight. Divin and Julie were about to finish off a bluish head-sized slime while Carol and Taro were nipping at another. Arya was healing a wound on Carol's shoulder, at least whenever she paused from hopping about. I stood there, pensively watching the fight waiting for my stats to recover.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>I got back in the fight again, after we all had another break to recover. I noticed that my spells were taking about 10 less mana. With the increased mana pool, I could now cast 3 successive Incendios and still have some mana left. Neat!</p>
<p>Another few hours went by in a flash. Fight, recover, repeat. The rest of the merry band had leveled up as well. Despite that, we didn't change our strategy. It was working, and it was working <em>well</em>.</p>
<p>While the cheer brought by our level-ups kept our stress at bay for a bit, it could only hold for so long. I was wondering how far we would make it when Julie sighted the exit. 'Good eyes on you, Miss Archer. Wait, does she have a Skill that lets her see far away or something?' I pondered as I tried to make out the exit myself.</p>
<p>I saw it. Another damn bridge. Well, at least this one was wider than the makeshift ledge the last one was. I was puzzled as to why it was called a Dungeon when there were no stairs going up and down anywhere. Perhaps my idea of a Dungeon was skewed.</p>
<p>We eventually made our way there. Not only were all of us level 1, but some of us were also halfway to level 2 - myself included. The field was mostly clear of slimes, a few still meandering at the edges. While the ground seemed psychedelic with color nearer to us, further on, it was returning to its natural color. It was a brown blur back where we had started from. We gazed at the ground where we had spent however many hours fighting magical ooze of fantasy, then turned our back on the field that granted us our first level up.</p>
Chapter 7 - Settling down2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%207%20-%20Settling%20down/<h2>Chapter 7 - Settling down</h2>
<p>"'Twas my little bro's 14th birthday the day after tomorrow. I was gonna bake him a cake." Carol mumbled.</p>
<p>We were all resting on the bridge, sitting down, and coming to terms with our current predicament. When we first appeared here, we were confused. Soon we got busy hunting slimes. Now that we had a moment to reflect, reality hit us like a freight train.</p>
<p>"What sort of cake?" I asked just to keep the conversation flowing.</p>
<p>"A cheesecake, perhaps. My mum was set on strawberries though," she chuckled. I sniggered as well, more out of formality than amusement.</p>
<p>The conversation would have died then, if not for Julie. "My boyfriend and I were going to visit my folks. I was going to introduce him." She chuckled as well, more morose than amused, "I was quite nervous; we were going steady and I really wanted them to all like each other. Guess that's one thing I don't have to worry about anymore." I decided not to add my formal snigger this time.</p>
<p>"Well, you'll have to worry about it as soon as we go back," I tried to cheer her up. Julie looked at me confused. Even the others did the same.</p>
<p>"You do know where we are, right? We've been here for what, a few days already? I don't know how fucking long this test shit is going to last but what I do know is that, steady or not, Jake isn't gonna wait decades for me to come back," she growled, with barely concealed anger and deep sadness.</p>
<p>"Didn't you hear what Betty said? Time flows differently here and back home," I offered. Then I remembered that I was the one who had asked the question and received an answer. Others probably didn't catch on it. "Isn't that right Betty? What exactly is the time difference between the simulation and the real... er, reality?" I turned to the ball of light in our midst.</p>
<p>"Every month in the Simulation is a second in your world. And every month in the Tutorial is a second in the Simulation, a month being a standard 30 day period." she intoned.</p>
<p>"See? Our time in the Tutorial scarcely counts back home. Once we complete the Tutorial and find an exit back home, barely a second or two would have passed," I concluded. I also wondered how many humans these guys must have kidnapped and tested on out here. Time dilation was quite convenient.</p>
<p>The conversation tapered off after that. This time though, the people did less wallowing in self-pity and more figuring out how this new information affected their situation. The way I saw it, it didn't really matter how long we spent inside the Simulation. Even if we spent 100 years inside, back home barely 20 minutes would've passed. Not that it mattered to me. I wasn't gonna stay away from my friend and family for years on end. Besides, I hated being pushed around by others. Become a guinea pig for some weird test? Fuck that! I was gonna bug out ASAP.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>I wasn't particularly thirsty. But for some reason, I craved water. Never in my life had I been through such an onerous exercise and did not need a drop of water. It felt weird. I also wanted some food. Not that I was hungry. I wondered how long it had been since I last ate. In fact, I asked Betty, "Hey Betty, how long have we been in this Tutorial?" She replied "16 hours and 43 minutes." 'Not even a day has passed? I feel like I've been here for eons. Damn!' The others were shocked as well. Taro had a particularly funny look on his face. 'Time dilation affects us mentally too, eh?' I joked to myself.</p>
<p>We had been here for a while. Our clothes were clean as if new. The slime remains worked surprisingly as dry cleaning. The sky was still dark of dusk. Some stars really would've been nice, it gets damn depressing looking up to nothing. I wished we had a fire going. Not that I was cold. The temperature was just right. Since none of us was a Craftsman nor had we any clue otherwise of how to start a fire, we just laid about like drunken sailors, sitting with our backs against the railings in the middle of the bridge.</p>
<p>The entrance of the next "level" was visible ahead, although I couldn't peer past it to see the terrain. While we were resting, I opened my Status Window and decided it was high time to experiment. I still remembered Betty's float spell, so I emulated it.</p>
<hr />
<pre><code class="language-sh">incendio o = (( o.temperature = o.temperature * 2 ))
petrificus_totalus o = (( o.temperature = o.temperature / 2 ))
float o = (( o.elevation = (o.elevation + 1) * 2 ))
</code></pre>
<hr />
<p>'While I have no control over gravity yet, doubling the elevation should be enough. Added one in case the elevation was zero. Anyway, let us test,' I thought and pointed my palm at a nearby pebble. "Float," I whispered, as quietly as possible so I didn't disturb others from their ruminations, and the pebble moved. In place. It barely left the ground. 'So gravity is still pulling it down eh?', I thought, 'No leviosa for me today!' I wasn't that bummed about the failure, I even sort of expected it. I asked Betty if she had any other spells. She replied in negative. Her shape-shifting was not a standard "Spell" according to her and besides floating around, she couldn't do much else.</p>
<p>I messed around a bit with float spell and put in different variables, and still made no tangible progress in it. With a thought, the float spell was removed. I tried writing random code to see what syntax worked. Apparently, while a spell could be multi-line, it <em>had</em> to be a proper function. No direct external calls or global variables. I also tried several shell utilities that I remembered being built-in. Few worked, most didn't. The only "error" I got was that it didn't produce any effect or open new window; with no idea why not or where the issue was. After a while, I decided I'd rather catch some shut-eye, even if I didn't need it. I closed my eyes against the gloomy dark and made myself as comfortable as possible on the hard stone. I couldn't sleep right away, I never did anyway even back home. Everyone had quieted down. Silence reigned for a while. Soon I heard heavy breathing coming from Divin's side. I even perceived someone sniffling softly. I decided to feign sleep until I actually did.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Julie was the first to move. "We should get going," she spoke in a tone filled with cold determination. Probably more for her own sake than others. We all got up. There was no way out but through.</p>
<p>While it was true that we didn't <em>need</em> sleep when speaking in terms of stats and points, but as humans, it certainly helped a lot. Of course, we didn't wake up filled with happiness or anything of the sort. Things just seemed... More manageable, somehow. No one commented on Carol's puffy eyes. I personally felt slightly chipper now than I did before.</p>
<p>As we reached the entrance, Betty's light casting long shadows ahead of us, a sight of ruin welcomed us. It was literally, a ruin. Alabaster statues with missing heads decorated the buildings made of tilted pillars and broken walls. I couldn't see how far this ruin extended, the decaying structures blocked my view further.</p>
<p>Suddenly, I noticed movement in the corner of my eye. I focused on it and saw a solitary vine swinging down. "Monkey?" Taro questioned no one in particular. "Yeah, it looked like a baboon," Julie answered. I must've missed it. 'Monkey ain't that bad, right?' I thought.</p>
<p>That was when Betty decided to make an announcement: "This is Level 1 of the Tutorial Dungeon - The Imp Ruins!"</p>
Chapter 8 - Impish Impulse2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%208%20-%20Impish%20Impulse/<h2>Chapter 8 - Impish Impulse</h2>
<p>Slimes were one thing, they felt more or less like jelly in motion. Stabbing monkeys to death was a different matter, however. No one took the initiative to step forward. I noticed several more of our supposed prey gathering ahead of us on a precariously upright wall. Taking a closer look, I noticed some differences in their physiology that made it harder for me to call them just monkeys. Especially the small leathery wings on their back. While our party stood at an impasse, more of these "imps" gathered around.</p>
<p>There must've been around eight of these critters staring down at us when a slightly larger one of them jumped down to the ground. It took a couple steps towards us. We were perhaps 15 meters away from it. The attention of all the members, both human and imp, was focused on this particular pioneer. I was wondering what it was trying to do. 'Perhaps sniff for snacks?' I was immediately proved wrong when it picked up a pebble. Before any of us could register what was happening, it swung its hand and the pebble came sailing at Taro's face. Thankfully, it whizzed past his head and plopped harmlessly onto the ground behind. I looked at Taro, who was frozen more from disbelief than fear. Then I looked at the imp, it was still standing there as if waiting for our reaction. It certainly got one.</p>
<p>Julie notched her arrow and fired at the culprit. Of course, it was never going to hit, but the imp didn't know that. Neither did its friends on the wall. They skedaddled out of the clearing faster than you could say imp. In that regard, they did comically seem like monkeys.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>As time went by, the varmints grew bolder. There were over 20 of them now, taking turns throwing rocks at us while the rest egged them on. Julie stopped shooting at them after her seventh arrow. According to her, it was a waste of arrows against such numbers. I think it had more to do with how they cackled when her last arrow had hit a pillar far away from any of them. All seven of her arrows now had new owners, being held like short spears and used to poke the poor plebeians who didn't have one.</p>
<p>We were stuck. Sometimes Taro and Carol threw rocks back. At first, the imps were guarded. Then they guffawed at the rocks as well. While they didn't exactly mount an attack on us, we couldn't go ahead anyway. Not unless we wished to get stoned to death halfway through. Perhaps a Craftsman would've been useful here, making traps and lures.</p>
<p>'Traps, eh?' a sudden idea hit me. I gathered the group around and explained the process. I could see the poorly hidden doubt in their dubious faces. Still, no one else had any better solution, so we decided to give it a go. We had already lost seven arrows, what does one more matter?</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>It was again the pioneer imp that took the initiative. So far, the distance between us and the imps had been constant. But now it couldn't maintain the same anymore. All of its friends had arrows of their own, whereas the who took the first step was still empty-handed. It didn't sit well with the imp. Now its greed overwhelmed its caution. We must've seemed harmless enough anyway, what with our misguided arrows and unenthusiastic rock throws.</p>
<p>It ambled towards the arrow stuck deep into the earth. Perhaps only a centimeter of it was visible above. The imp knew it was a shiny arrow though, for it had seen us bury it not so long ago. All of us had even retreated from the spot, now standing further back almost behind the entrance, watching the show. Well... Not all of us. Carol stood all by her lonesome behind a decrepit pillar by the side. Perhaps she was trying to hide? Either way, the imp didn't give Carol more than a glance. It was confident in its ability to run away at the slightest of sounds. And the larger group was in its sight anyway. Nothing stood between it and the arrow.</p>
<p>Soon it reached the spot and gave a tug at the stem. It looked us over to make sure we hadn't made a move. We hadn't. It then tugged harder. Not enough. It tried to use both hands. No grip. Soon, it was apparent that pulling the thing out wasn't gonna work, so it quickly set to digging. After giving us a cautionary glace of course. Unfortunately for the imp, it hadn't noticed Carol moving out from behind the pillar. She was using her Skill of silent footsteps. I had also cast Incendio on her dagger - twice. After freezing the lump of ground holding the arrow, that is.</p>
<p>I was actually impressed by how firm Carol stayed, given that she was about to stab the primate in the back. She reached from behind the imp, which was still engrossed in clawing out cold soil. It also ignored the pandemonium its brethren were making, perhaps mistaking it for encouragement. So lost was it in the task, that it didn't notice the dagger until it was out poking through its chest. The girl certainly didn't take half measures. The blade had cut clean through.</p>
<p>I had a cognition that my XP stash had increased. I would've checked the Status Window to confirm, but the scene that was unfolding held my full attention. The imp fingered the point of the dagger, then touched the end of the arrow longingly. Not a moment later, it slumped down with a confused mewl. Interestingly enough, there was not a drop of blood. The imps fur changed as if it had caught fire, originating from the wound. The fire then went on to consume the whole body, leaving but a pinch of dark ash behind, which soon scattered in the non-existent wind.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>The imps had ceased their uproar as if on cue. Carol stood looking down at her dagger. Nobody moved for several seconds. And then everyone moved at once. A few imps squealed and sprinted at Carol on their short legs and flapping wings. The rest ran back to wherever they came from. We made a dash for Carol as well, shouting warnings at her. Unlike the dead imp though, she didn't ignore her companions. Didn't even look back. She ran towards us as soon as she picked her dagger off the ground.</p>
<p>Must've been about six imps. Perhaps they were close friends and family of the pioneer. The madness and rage in their eyes was certainly a sight to behold. Just as Carol joined us, she turned back again and we clashed with the incoming gamins. There was no time to ponder on the moral and ethical concerns I harbored previously. If a rabid dog tries to corner and bite you, you instinctively kick back, no matter how much of a dog lover or a pacific you are. I had recovered just enough mana to freeze three of them. Taro, Divin, and Carol engaged the other three. While we certainly weren't experts at combat, we had recent experience being swarmed. Our previous foes were even immune to physical damage. And these imps weren't thinking straight. All they had was their ferocity and slightly sharp claws. Everything else was working against them. Numbers, equipment, range, power, we outmatched them in all. It wasn't long before one went down, then another, and another. I hadn't even recovered mana to cast another spell when the last one was ablaze.</p>
<p>I noticed that the damage, shallow though it was, was quite extensive. We had scratches all over our limbs, Carol even had some on her face. To say it was uncomfortable was an understatement. 'I hope we don't catch some weird disease,' I pondered. Arya took her sweet time healing us all. Several times, she had to cast heal multiple times on a single wound. That being said, it was quite magical in the way it healed. Not a single blemish remained as if the wounded had never existed. 'It <em>is</em> magic though,' I contemplated as I mulled over the Status Window and XP gains from the fight.</p>
Chapter 9 - The Unknown2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%209%20-%20The%20Unknown/<h2>Chapter 9 - The Unknown</h2>
<p>We moved on with our expedition. Our M.O. was to seek open spaces in between the ruins so that the imps couldn't ambush us. When there were enough gathered, we would lay our arrow trap and lure one in. They fell for it every single time. Perhaps they were blessed with primate instincts, yet I couldn't help but wonder at their absolute lack of learning. Or perhaps the arrows were simply too tempting. Either way, Carol would assassinate the courageous one, while the rest quickly took care of the following enraged family. I had stopped casting spells on the ground and dagger, it didn't help much.</p>
<p>About halfway through the ruin - well I assumed it was halfway because we were walking on for what seemed like a day, the whole process of luring, assassinating and eventual chaos of blades and claws got so repetitive that Julie and I were having a casual conversation while the rest were in the midst of another broil.</p>
<p>"...so how did you and Jake meet?" I asked.</p>
<p>"It's not that interesting or romantic as you might expect. We were both interns at the same firm. One day he just asked me out of nowhere; I said yes, and so it began!" Julie replied with a nostalgic smile.</p>
<p>"It's hard to find someone so compatible. But Jake and Julie, even your names are part of a famous rhyme, sort of!" I made a stupid observation, eyeing the glow on Divin's wrist that was being healed by Arya just outside the fight.</p>
<p>"Well, my name isn't actually Julie. In German, it comes out something close to Hulia, but I doubt you guys could pronounce it," she said while putting the arrow in her hand back inside the quiver. The fight was coming to an end.</p>
<p>"I'll stick to Julie, no problem. By the way, my name isn't Pat either!" I said with a mysterious smile. Julie looked at me with a smile of her own and asked, "Oh, what is it then?" "Ah, you probably won't be able to pronounce it either." I smirked, opting to extend the mystery. The rest of the gang had returned by then.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"It has been 3 days, 2 hours and 13 minutes since we began from Spawn Point." Betty replied to a question from Julie.</p>
<p>'So we've been wandering these ruins for a better part of 2 days? Wow.' This time, it certainly did feel like it. The imps came at us sporadically, unlike the constant churn of slimes. I was mostly relegated to the rear position now since my contribution to the fight was limited to cold spell at the start. The imps usually died out before I could recover my mana. Interestingly enough, Incendio did not seem to affect them as much as Petrificus did. I couldn't figure out why exactly.</p>
<p>The mêlée combatants of our group were raking in XP. I bet Carol must have gained several times than the rest with her solo kills. Oh, the rest didn't include Arya, she was an outlier. I was proved correct soon when she leveled up again. I checked my Status Window, I still needed about 55 XP. At least I was ahead of Julie. Not that it mattered, I doubt we'd leave anyone behind. 'Would we not, if it really came to it?' I wondered.</p>
<p>It must've been our twelfth ambush when I noticed something that hadn't happened before. A particularly large imp, largest so far, had decided to have a go at the arrow. When Carol jammed her dagger into its throat, it was momentarily aflame like normal, but it didn't leave behind just ashes. When the flames died out, we saw an old boot lying on the ground. 'Is that a monster drop?' I was amazed. This was so game-like. I did not, however, put the old boot into my inventory. First, I didn't need it. Second, I had no inventory. The others ignored it as well, after the initial curious glance or two. The incoming horde of imps also demanded our attention.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"My major is Environmental Science. I wanna be part of this community, ya know? Have people come together, help each other out. That is the end goal anyway. Planting some trees is a part of the journey; making our planet greener is not such a bad idea after all." Carol answered to my question about her studies and activities.</p>
<p>"So, which university in Ireland do you go to?" I continued. "Ah, ya know. I am <em>from</em> Ireland, but my college is in the England. I've been staying there since last year" she said. "Cool... What about you Arya, what do you do?" I turned to Arya. Julie, Taro, and Divin where on a lookout of sorts. They were also verifying our heading, making sure we weren't going around in circles. Since it was troublesome for only one to go, we had split up in 2 groups. Arya, Carol, and I were holding the fort with one half of Betty. Also, Arya was healing our minor wounds from a recent scuffle. "I'm a fashion designer," she said. Arya wasn't as tight-lipped as she was before. Now that I looked at her closely, she was quite pretty as well. "Artistic eh? Nice." I said. While I noticed a small scratch on the back of my hand mend, Carol asked Arya about her hometown. "Oh, I'm from Canada. Well, technically, I was born in India, but my family moved to Canada when I was 6. Been there for almost 20 years now."</p>
<p>'Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia' I guess we're missing members only from Australia. I doubt Antarctica would be considered anyway. Uniform distribution, for sure. "So you're a programmer then?" Arya brought me out of my contemplation. "Ah yes, I work as a Software Developer," I said. "Then, can I ask you for a favor?" Arya said in a slightly flustered tone. "Oh, of course. What is it?" I asked. I could already imagine what it could be. "I want to learn how to create customized spells. I guess you've already created a couple. How hard is it?" she asked, growing quite interested. "Well, it's not hard in the sense of creating one. It's more a matter of information shortage that holds you back here," I said. I wondered if I could've worded it better. I tried again, looking at her confused expression. "I mean, it is easy to write a spell, as long as you have the information you need to write one. It's like... Well, writing a recipe. Writing the recipe itself is not the problem. The issue is we don't know what ingredients we have." I explained. "So how do we find the ingredients?" came the obvious question. "Now that... That is a very good question."</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>It wasn't quite me working on spells indulgently, as I had to keep a lookout as well, but we did run some experiments. While Carol had the tilde symbol in her Status Window as well, it was greyed out and barely visible. She couldn't open the terminal. Arya, on the other hand, could. I had her type in Incendio with her mind. That was it though. She couldn't cast the spell. We enquired Betty about the same. Apparently, Healer Class did not have access to the temperature of a target. Ironic, really. All their spells had to target HP, MP or SP in one way or another, without directly modifying them. The fact that changing temperature could affect HP was immaterial, a minor side effect. I couldn't figure out this weird restriction, wondering how her 'Heal' Skill worked. I felt like I was missing something. Upon further experimentation, it was revealed that we also didn't have access to the source code of the Skill. Basically, we were stuck.</p>
<p>While Arya was trying out random things in her terminal, the other group and Betty's other half came back. I could sense the excitement from their faces. Even the ever stoic Divin had a slight curve to his lips. My curiosity was eventually sated when Taro exclaimed - "We found the exit!"</p>
Chapter 10 - Id2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2010%20-%20Id/<h2>Chapter 10 - Id</h2>
<p>A few more tussles and all of us reached level 2, Julie and I being the last. No significant changes to my stats, except my mana reached 920. Quite a random increase. First I got 80 mana off single Intelligence point, and now only 40? There wasn't even any change in mana consumption. Still took 230 and 270 mana points for Petrificus and Incendio respectively. I couldn't comprehend the scale. Betty's explanation wasn't any more helpful.</p>
<p>Since we were already at the exit, we decided to march ahead. We were again blessed with a bridge over an abyss. Looking over the railing, Taro asked, "How deep do you think it goes?" "Perhaps it never ends!" I added my two cents.</p>
<p>"It has to end somewhere, right?" he countered. "Well, not necessarily. Maybe it loops back out top from the bottom?" I argued. "It can do that?" he exclaimed, wide-eyed. "Sure, I like to think that is how our real Universe is. When you reach the end, you just portal back. No real end or beginning." Speaking of the "real" world, in however obtuse words, brought a wave of sombreness over us. No one spoke after that, as we crossed the bridge over to level 2.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>As we graced the entrance of Level 2 we were treated to a landscape filled with hills and caves. I was filled with dread, remembering the movies based on this exact terrain. Hopefully, the denizens of the movie were not haunting these lands. Again, I couldn't see the end. Perhaps this time, it was actually far off. Nor could I see any movement. Not that that was good news.</p>
<p>This time, Carol took the initiative. She decided to silent her footsteps and tentatively went ahead scanning around in all directions. While I wasn't going to suggest the girl go ahead and check for monsters, as a Scout, I guess that was her prerogative. Wise, even. No one spoke out loud but gave their silent consent. She advanced about 10 meters ahead of us. 'Baby steps now, can't have her go out all alone, Scout or not.'</p>
<p>Suddenly Betty announced, "This is Level 2 of the Tutorial Dungeon - The Kin of Sobek." 'The kin of what now? And why did she announce it now? We hadn't even seen anything. Wait. Maybe she doesn't announce it when we see something. Maybe she does it when <em>somethings sees us</em>!' We stopped walking. Carol was shaking like a leaf, having come to a similar conclusion, I deduced. Or perhaps she knew what a Sobek was? I wanted to ask Betty what it meant, but I was too busy scanning for the thing, praying it won't come out of the ground or something. Just as I was about to suggest moving on, Julie screamed and took off back to the entrance. Everyone panicked and made a mad dash behind her. Soon enough we were back, poor Carol sweating from head to toe. "What... The... Hell?" she huffed at Julie between quick pants.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"A large crocodile!?!" We were all aghast. "Yes, it was looking at us from the shadows in the cave off to the left. I'm sorry, I was just so scared. It looked right at me!" Julie described, now considerably calmer.</p>
<p>"How many did you see?" Divin asked. It certainly wasn't a good idea to be swarmed by large crocodile monsters. "Ah, I saw only one and then I ran. I don't know if there were more" Julie replied.</p>
<p>No one suggested going back to check. We just stood there, perhaps gathering courage. I certainly was in no hurry to become a crocodile hunter. I'd seen on TV how powerful their jaw strength was, bursting watermelons like balloons.</p>
<p>So we decided to take a short break there. We could make a routine of taking short naps on bridges hanging over nothingness. I wasn't in any mood to sleep, my time in Level 1 was more or less relaxed. So I opened up my Status Window and decided to go through my second trial and error session.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>'So, everything in this Simulation is an object and I can directly mutate their values. Of course, there are permissions and privileges, dos and don'ts, but the fact still remains. I wonder if I can print the objects somehow? That would be an awesome push to my progress!'</p>
<p>Since the function definition looked like Haskell, I decided to try out one of its inbuilt function.</p>
<pre><code class="language-hs">print_object o = id o
</code></pre>
<p>'OK, let's try this'. I lifted my hand and pointed to a pebble. "Print object," I whispered. Nothing.</p>
<p>'Perhaps it takes in cout or console.log?' I tried out several variations. 'Nope. Hmm, what if...?' I modified the program.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">print_object o = echo o
</code></pre>
<p>This time, I lost 45 mana. And a new window overlapped my terminal.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Rubble</h3>
<hr />
<p>'Of course... Bash... That should've been the first thing I tried!' I was excited beyond measure. I again suppressed my urge to do a victory dance. Arya, however, noticed. "You're doing your weird smile again." She didn't stay quiet this time, opting to mutter her thoughts to me. "Ah, yes. I managed to create a new spell!" I confided. The others were resting, fitfully or otherwise. Arya came over and inquired about the new spell. I deliberated over how to best explain it to her; teaching object-oriented bash would be a pain in the behind, especially since I was learning it myself. I decided to change the name to help my case.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">identify o = echo o
</code></pre>
<p>"You can get information about a thing using this spell, Identify." I said as she thought-typed the code in her terminal. I didn't expect it to run, but to my surprise, it actually did! Why did identify run, when it has nothing to do with any stats? I immediately called Betty over, hissed my befuddlement, and leveled her with a cold stare. Betty replied guilelessly, "Healer Class cannot directly affect HP, MP or SP. Also, Healers do not have access to parameters that are not effective on HP, MP or SP." A lot to unpack there but it somehow made sense in a convoluted way. So Arya couldn't change temperature because it wasn't really affecting HP directly, at least when it was normal. Perhaps when a victim has a cold or fever? Then she would have to attack the <em>cause</em> of temperature imbalance. Even her 'Heal' Skill worked directly on wounds and bleeds, increasing HP as an after-effect. As for Identify, it was so far out of affecting any attributes, that it was a sort-of "read-only" spell and it didn't matter who cast it. 'I see... I'll think about it some other time though. Gotta experiment with identify!' and so, Arya and I went around identifying random things. Of course, after the pebble, I ran it on her first!</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Novice] Healer - Level 2</h3>
<p><em>Special Effects</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Healing Boost - Extra Intelligence and/or Attunement points on every Class Upgrade</li>
<li>Self-Diagnosis - Healing works 30% faster when target is self</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Ah, just this? I should've been able to see things like temperature as well since I can modify it. Perhaps my level is too low? Hey, at least I can see the level, Class and effects. That's a good start.' Arya had her palm pointed at me as well, her eyes glassy. Soon she came back, our eyes met and she smiled at me. "This is one damn good spell for sure!" she praised. "I agree, it is!" I replied, slightly puffing my chest. Identify used up 70 of her mana, where it took only 45 for me. Another interesting discovery. Eventually, I ran out of things to identify around me. Julie did have an eyesight related special effect. Intriguingly, identify didn't work on Betty. It consumed mana, yes, but showed a blank screen.</p>
<p>While I wasn't really sleepy, the run back has sapped my SP. The exhaustion was catching up. So I decided to take a short nap. And that was just what I did.</p>
Chapter 11 - Crocodile Hunters (1)2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2011%20-%20Crocodile%20Hunters%20(1)/<h2>Chapter 11 - Crocodile Hunters (1)</h2>
<p>Taro, Divin, and I were moving forward with the ladies trailing behind us at a distance. This was our new formation, where the three guys had become meat shields for some reason.</p>
<p>The hullabaloo of previous Levels was absent, instead filled with deceptive tranquility. Despite our strain, or perhaps because of it, we were having a light conversation. Taro had initiated it, asking me about my home town. Currently, we were on the topic of his school.</p>
<p>"... Oh you know, it's not like they teach anything meaningful. Plus, I had my exams coming up next week. I was summoned at a perfect time. Now I don't have to study anymore!" he grinned.</p>
<p>"Haha," I laughed softly, choosing not to mention the time difference again. "What about you Divin? What sort of business do you own?" I switched the conversation to Divin.</p>
<p>"Hmm, you know. Odds and ends..." He waved it off. "I see," I said. I didn't. Thinking about it now, on the spectrum of most talkative on the right to least on left, Divin would sit on the extreme left. Carol would probably be on the other end, followed closely by Taro. I guess Julie, myself and Arya were somewhere in between, in that order.</p>
<p>Pretty soon, we reached the place where we had ran back from before. Looking off to the left, I scanned the caves for signs of a crocodile. I didn't have to search for long. I soon saw it, just at the mouth of the cave sitting still with its mouth wide open, half-concealed by the long shadows of evening. Forget a balloon, it could pop my head like a bubble; that is how large it was. We stood and stared at it watchfully. It didn't move a muscle.</p>
<p>As we stood, the girls made their way to our position. Then they gawked the reptile as well. It still didn't move. Eventually, Taro looked around the group and nodded. 'No man, don't!' I almost shouted, but I knew we had no choice. I decided to move as well, given I had the highest damage rate with my spells. I had to hit it first like I usually did at the start of every fight against monsters. Divin wavered for a bit, then joined us as well. We were back in our new formation, the girls trailing at a distance. Time to get a closer look at our next supposed prey.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>A very large crocodile, perhaps 6 meters in length, laid still on the ground. During our advance, it had slowly closed its large snout. If we hadn't seen it open beforehand, perhaps we would've been fooled into thinking that it hadn't moved at all!</p>
<p>We were about 20 meters away from it. It didn't move. We moved ahead haltingly, reaching almost 10 meters near it. 'Damn, this thing is HUGE!' I thought to myself. I guessed it came close in size to some of the largest crocodiles on our planet. We stopped there, hesitant to move forward. I could now actually see the monster appraise us. There was a glint of beastly intellect in its eyes that you see only in apex predators.</p>
<p>I lifted my hand, hoping to get a selection. Nope. I inched closer, praying it wouldn't suddenly jump out and grab at me. I couldn't select it still, but this time, the monster moved. Ever so slowly, it lifted its front leg and moved it forward. With a characteristic flex of its body, it moved the other leg ahead. I couldn't see the hind legs, shrouded in shadow as they were. It moved excruciatingly slow. I was tense as a drawn bowstring, ready to scamper off at the slightest hint of trouble.</p>
<p>As we watched it amble towards us languidly, we realized that the thing moved as if in slow motion. Perhaps it was bogged down by its own weight. I still kept my hand lifted though, and perhaps it was about 6 meters away from us when I could suddenly feel something different. I was able to select it! 'Wow, my level up must've affected my range more than I thought.' I quickly cast Identify on it.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Kin of Sobek - Level ?</h3>
<p><em>Special Effect</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Transient Life: You are a temporary variable in a short-lived calculation.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>Before I could process what was written on the screen, my caution overwhelmed my curiosity. The crocodile was no more than 5 meters ahead of me and I wasn't about to let it get any closer. With my palm already pointing at its snout, I shouted out the name of my most damaging spell - "INCENDIO!"</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>If you have ever felt stupid in life, think of what I had just done. I had cast a heat spell on a cold-blooded reptile monster when it was but a few meters away from me and heading in my direction for a light snack. The effect was immediate. It first spent a couple of seconds as if enjoying the heat spread through its thick body and then it raced towards us instantly.</p>
<p>I had never in my life ran faster than when I did after being chased by a goddamn dinosaur. I gave no thought to Taro, nor to Divin. In my Usain B. moment, I hazily noticed that the girls were already gone. I reached the entrance within what felt like hours and seconds at the same time. The other guys were at my heels, apparently. The girls stood just beyond, panting on the bridge. Looking back, the crocodile had given up chase after barely a few meters, now languishing back in its nest; perhaps deciding to conserve its heat.</p>
<p>I felt ludicrous about my actions. I was also utterly drained from my sprint. I felt like the stupidest bum if there ever was one. But for some reason, I started laughing. Yes, I felt incredibly dumb. Yes, my life was in danger, if only for a couple of seconds. Yet I couldn't help it at all. I snorted loudly, then burst into full-blown laughter. Soon, I was joined by Carol, Taro, and Arya as well. While I did not see them in my mirth, I bet Julie and Divin had grins on their faces as well.</p>
<p>"Well, that was stupid," I said after our giggle-fit died down. "Yeah, but at least now we have a fighting chance," Divin said. "I agree," I said thinking about how Petrificus would affect these things. "So what exactly happened?" Julie asked, with Arya and Carol perking their ears. Taro took the responsibility to regale them with our hilarious and deadly adventure. Slightly exaggerating it in the process, of course.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>'Transient Life, eh?' I thought about the special effect on the creature. 'I guess these things are explicitly created for the purpose of this tutorial. I wonder what will happen to the place after we leave?' I asked Betty the same. "Yes, the level and monsters in it are garbage collected after you pass on to the next level," she replied, "Level 0 and 1, along with creatures inhabiting them, now no longer exist."</p>
<p>For some reason, I felt sad about it. But then again, that is how these things work. 'Temporary variables for sure,' I thought as I brooded over the matter for a while.</p>
Chapter 12 - Crocodile Hunters (2)2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2012%20-%20Crocodile%20Hunters%20(2)/<h2>Chapter 12 - Crocodile Hunters (2)</h2>
<p>This was the second time I was dumbstruck by the sheer utility of a spell. First, when it popped the slime into a steaming puddle. Now, when it stunned a giant reptile into near immobility.</p>
<p>Sure, the area of effect was less. I had cast petrificus on its belly from the side while Carol distracted it from the other side. And yet, the effect was quite dramatic. Slowly but surely, it closed its eyes and shrank its legs unto itself. Like saying goodnight to the world. Desperate efforts were made on the crocodile's part to get back into the safety of its shelter, but the three blade-masters had become quite ruthless by now. Not to mention the continuous onslaught of Julie's arrows. She missed less and less the closer she dared to come to the creature.</p>
<p>After 3 rapid doses of my freeze spell, the thing went rigid. Its skin was thick but that only lengthened the agony. Before long, we had taken down our first crocodile monster. This was also our first fight where Arya's help was unnecessary. I doubt we would've needed her help if we had lost against that one - we would've been crushed beyond repair.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the crocodile did not bleed either. At least not blood. While its wounds were dark nothings, its body turned into a watery splotch when it died. I asked Betty if all the monsters are the same. According to her, the monsters in the tutorial were specially created to be cannon fodder for the test subjects. The reason they did not bleed was so the subjects could get acclimated to killing. Very kind of our kidnappers to worry about our mental state. The monster counterparts in the 'outer world' were quite varied. And bled when struck. If a level 2 guy like me had encountered a crocodile, like this one in its natural habitat, that would be it for me.</p>
<p>I opened my Status Window to check my gains from the kill.</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Novice] Mage - Level 2</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>HP</th>
<th>MP</th>
<th>SP</th>
<th>XP</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>120/120</td>
<td>190/880</td>
<td>20/25</td>
<td>32/300</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Spells</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Incendio</li>
<li>Petrificus Totalus</li>
<li>Identify</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Special Effects</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Magic Boost - You get extra Intelligence, Perception, and/or Wisdom points on every Class Upgrade</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Whoa, I got 32 XP for this piece of cake? 9 more crocs and I'm level 3 baby! Ah, I bet mine was the highest though, so others probably got less.'</p>
<p>Apparently, while I was correct, the difference in XP wasn't as big as I had imagined. Everyone received somewhere between 20 to 30 XP.</p>
<p>'Except Arya. I wonder how she will get to level 3 here without having to heal?'</p>
<p>I was looking at her as I thought that when she cast a heal upon herself. She must've noticed my questioning gaze, because she replied, "Ah, I don't have to heal actual wounds to get XP. If I just cast the spell, I get a little XP as well. It's much less, but it's something." If that is not a cheat power, I don't know what is. 'Wait, hey. Why can't I get XP when I cast my spells out of combat?' I asked her, "Do you get XP for Identify as well?" "No, just for Heal," she said with an apologizing tone. 'Of course, it is like that. Just you wait, system, I am gonna hack the shit out of you.' This unfair treatment lit a different fire in my heart. It burned just as bright as the one wanting me to get home. However, this one was different. It was the same one I always got when faced with a tough challenge.</p>
<p>'Speaking of, is there a role-based structure in this system as well? Gotta be, given how closely it resembles our world's technology. There must be root access as well.'</p>
<p>I decided to put the thought in the back of my mind for now. Everyone else had checked their attributes and stats as well. We decided to move on and explore the caves while our mana and stamina recovered. 'If this is how the fight against every crocodile goes, then this might just be the easiest level so far,' I mused.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>The greatest difficulty in this level was not the fight against a monster; it was actually spotting one. These damn things were hibernating or something because they were never out in the open. It had been over a day and we only found 4 more crocodiles. One was halfway into the ground as if enjoying a dirt bath. It was even worse since we couldn't just run around looking for them. One snatch and grab, and we're done for.</p>
<p>So we moved around cautiously. Myself, Carol and Julie in the front. Flanked just behind by the rest. I did not appreciate being in the front again but I had the ability to slow down the opponent, so I did not complain. Funnily enough, the road to the next level was always perceivable. The ruins were much worse. I wondered what would happen if the Imp hordes attacked us on this terrain. Whoever designed this tutorial was being very generous.</p>
<p>Suddenly, Carol exclaimed, "There, on your right. See behind that rock? Me thinks that be a tail." She was right. Her speech was getting weirder by the minute though. Another monster was sleeping behind a rock quite close to us. As we explored the region, I had come to the conclusion that while Julie's sight was quite amazing, Carol was better at discerning things. Especially if they were close by.</p>
<p>Now that we had glimpsed our prey, we quickly changed formation. I still stayed at the front though. Julie and Arya moved behind the rest. Taro and Divin covered me, while Carol went ahead to do her thing.</p>
<p>The thing was slow to move, given how sleepy it was in the first place. Blasts from my spell brought it close to a standstill. And the others did the rest. Another one down. Honestly, it was so effortless that I had trouble believing it.</p>
<p>That was our 6th croc monster. I was earning XP between 27 - 33 per kill. I opened up my status again, out of habit. This time, I decided to hide even my spells and effects. It's not like they change much and I can always get them back when I wanted.</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Novice] Mage - Level 2</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>HP</th>
<th>MP</th>
<th>SP</th>
<th>XP</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>120/120</td>
<td>190/880</td>
<td>18/25</td>
<td>178/300</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<hr />
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>It is amazing how adaptable we human beings are. The constant fight against the slime wore us down like never before. Our march through the ruins was no less strenuous. First I missed a warm bed and a hearty meal. Later, I yearned for a sip of water and just the feeling of awakening after a deep sleep. Even though I didn't need any of it. Now? It had been close to two days that we had been wandering these hills. We hadn't slept <em>once</em>. Besides the short rest after killing a monster, we were constantly on the move.</p>
<p>That was why it wasn't long before we located the exit. This Dungeon probably went in a straight line, it seemed. We had just killed our twelfth crocodile. I reached level 3 first this time, quickly followed by the rest. Arya was still at level 2 though.</p>
<p>We made for the exit. Another bridge, the same as last. We went ahead and decided to rest while Arya gained her XP. I wasn't feeling like napping again. The stone floor wasn't so welcoming anyway. I decided to go for my third trial and error session. This time with a different objective. I looked at Arya casting Heal on herself in succession, then waiting to recover mana. She looked at me as well, "Another spell?" she queried. "Well, not really. More like meta-spell." I answered. 'Man, I suck at explaining things.' "A meta-spell?" she shot back. "How do I explain it? Ummm... Well, never mind. I'll show you when I'm done," I took the easy way out. She chuckled an okay and I opened my Status Window editor. I cracked my knuckles, cranked my neck, took a deep breath, muttered to myself 'Here goes nothing', and dived right in!</p>
Chapter 13 - Timing Attack2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2013%20-%20Timing%20Attack/<h2>Chapter 13 - Timing Attack</h2>
<pre><code class="language-sh">test = echo "Hello, World!"
</code></pre>
<p>"Test," I whispered. A new window opened up.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Hello, World!</h3>
<hr />
<p>I was almost certain that it would work but still sighed in relief. Then I quickly modified the program, coming to the crux of the issue.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">test = sudo echo "Hello, World!"
</code></pre>
<p>I took a deep breath. Crossed my fingers. Whispering with my eyes closed, "Test". I opened a single eye and my lips unconsciously curled into a smile.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Password:</h3>
<hr />
<p>'Hallelujah!' I celebrated in my mind. There <em>is</em> a superuser!</p>
<p>"So it worked?" Arya asked out of nowhere. I beamed at her blankly for a moment. "You did your evil smirk again," she clarified.</p>
<p>"Okay, first off, it is a normal smile. And second, yes. I got want I was looking for. As for whether I can use it or not, the jury is still out on that one," I said.</p>
<p>"So, can you tell me now what the spell is?" she beamed back. She had grown peculiarly interested in programming. 'Perhaps she wants to make a powerful resurrection spell or something?'</p>
<p>"Okay. In normal computing, there is a concept of a superuser, who can do stuff normal users cannot. Ummm, for example, think of a corporate building. You have your cleaners, workers, security, and so on. Many people with various roles and access to different rooms and tools. Then there is the owner or an administrator of the building. That one has access to all the rooms and all the stuff of the building. A superuser is something like the administrator. I mean, bad example but close enough. In Windows, the user is called an Administrator; on Unixes it is called a 'root' user," I tried to explain.</p>
<p>"Ah, I understand. So, what has your spell got to do with an administrator?" she asked.</p>
<p>"Hmm, well you must know by now that these spells are nothing but programs, right? If I can get superuser rights, then -"</p>
<p>"Then you can access tools and do stuff that you normally couldn't!" she cut me off and concluded.</p>
<p>"Well, yes," I replied. 'She is quick on the uptake.'</p>
<p>"So how do you become an admin?" she continued.</p>
<p>"That is the problem. You need a password," I said with a bitter smile.</p>
<p>"And how will we get this password?" she prompted unabashed.</p>
<p>'Brute force? Nah, I don't have years to spare for it to complete. I don't have handy dictionary either. Hmm, will it be susceptible to attacks though? Even our Earthly systems are so air-tight for the most part, this is an alien super system we are talking about. Maybe...'</p>
<p>"I'm gonna try something called as timing attack." I paused, rearranging my thoughts. "It works by checking the time of a system's response against different inputs. Imagine you entered a fully wrong password, like all characters incorrect. And the system denies entry after processing for a bit. Now, you enter a wrong password again, but half your characters are matching the real password. System will deny you entry again, but the time it takes to process your input will vary."</p>
<p>"I don't get it, why will the time be different? And how will it give us the password?" she asked.</p>
<p>"Hmm, perhaps an example will help? Assume the real password is 'abcd'. And the system checks each letter of your input against the real one when verifying. Now, if you enter 'wxyz', the system matches 'w' as first input against 'a', which is incorrect, so it immediately denies request. Next, you put in 'axyz'. It will check if letter of input 'a' with real pass 'a', give okay, move on to next letter 'x' and match against 'b'. It denies again here but the time it took to deny was more that of before because it took more time to process the correct input at the start. Thus, you unravel each letter one by one until your 'wxyz' turns into 'abcd' and voila - you have the password!"</p>
<p>"Oh wow, that is some neat trick." She reflected on it for a while. "Hey, my mana is back up, I'm gonna go cast heal. Best of luck with the password." She went back to her grind. I went back to mine.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>I was pessimistic. Good thing I had nothing but time on my hands - at least until Arya leveled up. I decided to give some random words a try first, you never know.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Password: password</h3>
<hr />
<p>I added the password with a thought. The window just vanished. No 'Hello, World!'. I noticed I was down 2 mana. 'Come on, I'm not even doing anything!' I wailed.</p>
<p>More determined than ever, I tried several more variations. No dice.</p>
<p>'I can't manually keep entering a password. A few more and I'll forget what I entered previously. Nor would I be able to cover all the characters.' With that thought, I decided to automate it.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">test = while true; do echo "password" | sudo -S echo "password worked"; done;
</code></pre>
<p>I cast the spell. One mana point down. I didn't see the window prompting for the password. Another second down, another mana point gone.</p>
<p>'What is this? A background job? I see. Since the system is unable to determine how many resources this spell will consume, it is taking it in as it requires,' I mused. 'Alright, now that we have a loop, let us get our characters in! First, I need a loop going from 0 to 255 to cover all chars. And I need to stream the output into a file.'</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">test = i=0; while [ $i -le 255 ]; do echo "$i" >> password_hack | sudo -S echo; done;
</code></pre>
<p>'Now, instead of numbers, let us feed it characters. Maybe the old printf trick?'</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">get_char i = printf "\x$(printf %x $i)"
</code></pre>
<p>'Alright, this will take a decimal i and return the corresponding character. Next is... Ah right, the "time" function.'</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">get_time = date +%s%N
</code></pre>
<p>'Right, so this will give us time in nanoseconds. Now to put it all together...'</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">
test = i=0; while [ $i -le 255 ]; do echo "$(get_char $i) $(get_time)" >> password_hack | sudo -S echo; done;
get_char i = printf "\x$(printf %x $i)"
get_time = date +%s%N
</code></pre>
<p>I ran each function and made sure everything worked. By the time I was done, Arya was looking fixedly at me again. "You were gone for quite a while just now. How's the password hacking going?" she queried. I was getting used to her being a curious cat by now, so I simply replied: "I've got the code down, I think. But I don't have the mana required to run it to the end right now. Maybe later? Quite a shot in the dark though, I don't expect much," I sated her curiosity, "Are you done?" I queried in return. "Yep, I'm level 3 now!" she exclaimed. "Congratulations," I smiled in return. "Should we wake the others now or do you wanna rest some?" "Nah, let's get going," she declared. And so, we woke the others and got going.</p>
Chapter 14 - Avian Prosecution (1)2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2014%20-%20Avian%20Prosecution%20(1)/<h2>Chapter 14 - Avian Prosecution (1)</h2>
<p>I was getting used to the variations in the landscape by now. First the plain fields, then the ruins, finally the hills. I was almost looking forward to seeing what the upcoming level would throw at us. Whatever it was, I did not expect it to be <em>this</em>.</p>
<p>Slimes, Chimps, Crocs, and now... Birds? Almost anticlimactic. The terrain was also not that different from the previous level except for fewer hills and more trees. The withered old trees were populated with what looked like vultures to my eyes. They were not even that large!</p>
<p>"This is Level 3 of the Tutorial Dungeon - The Nekhbet Copse!," Betty announced.</p>
<p>"These birds... They are vultures, aren't they?" Taro asserted. 'Damn right they are. Let's just ignore the chatbot and her dramatic naming sense,' I thought.</p>
<p>We were a bit ahead of the entrance. The shock that sneaky crocs had given us made our progress cautious but slow. Seems like it was for naught, as our opponents were out and about, causing a ruckus with their hisses and whines. I have never heard a vulture's sound before but I'm betting they aren't as loud as these.</p>
<p>"Yeah, they look like vultures," Julie stepped up, "There are a lot of them on the tree and below. They might swarm us like the slimes. How should we proceed?"</p>
<p>After some discussion, we decided to let the knights take point. Carol just behind them. Julie went at the end of the formation. Arya and I stood back, deciding to not interfere initially.</p>
<p>Soon, the tree was within shooting distance of the vanguard. Julie notched her arrow and fired at the largest vulture in the group. The birds suddenly went quiet. Her target was near the top of the tree. Her arrow landed about a couple of meters below it. 'Getting good,' I thought. She <em>was</em> a fair distance away from her target, so it was impressive.</p>
<p>The birds weren't impressed, however. With a low guttural hiss, the big guy swooped down and headed towards Julie. The rest of the flock of perhaps ten to fifteen followed behind it.</p>
<p>Our four companions admirably stood their ground. Carol intercepted the large bird with her daggers. Just as they were about to pierce the belly, the bird changed directions with a flap of its wings and dodged. The dagger scratched its tail nonetheless, just as its claws scraped past her wrists. Taro and Divin were doing better. Each one was hounded by three or four birds but it didn't seem like a major issue. Their swords had more reach after all. One vulture was already down. I noticed it was hit by Divin's freeze Skill.</p>
<p>Just as the rest of the fowls reached the group, I joined the fight as well. I feared they might outnumber us and we'd have to run away again. The largest was still harassing Carol, while Julie had distanced herself a bit more from the chaos and was now shooting at the dissenters. She got in a hit now and then. Taro and Divin held their ground. I noticed Arya had arrived behind Julie as well, checking if her help was needed.</p>
<p>As for me, I immediately leaped behind Carol and froze the big bird. It was startled and missed its attack. At that moment, I blasted another freezing spell at it. It was in vain though, as Carol's dagger was deep in its heart by then. It barely made a hiss and plunked on the ground. Within seconds, it disappeared in a storm of feathers, leaving behind a tattered cloth that must have been a shirt before it was mutilated.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>The balance for this level was tilted in our favor. The addition of an extra Knight was nothing to scoff at! Now that I think about it, having 3 front-liners had nothing but helped us all these levels. I wonder what would have happened if instead of a Knight, we had a Craftsman. How would it have affected our fights?</p>
<p>Either way, the vultures did not present any big difficulty. The beaks and claws were sharp, perhaps even more so than the Imps, but that was it. Sure they could fly, but they couldn't attack from the air. They <em>had</em> to come down if they wanted to hurt us. And up close, we had better reach and sharper weapons. Their numbers didn't mean much when only a few could attack at a time.</p>
<p>Pretty soon, the rest of the carrion-feeders were gone. I had helped cool down a few more of them after the first. The way their bodies turned into a small tornado of feathers after they died was a sight to behold. There were other tattered clothes dropped. A hat and another shirt, quite past their shelf life.</p>
<p>Everyone had a relaxed smile on their faces. With the sudden-death threat from sneaky 20 feet monsters lifted, we breathed slightly easy. Sure, these guys gave us the most trouble so far, but it was not much danger. Unlike the Imps, their cuts were deeper. They also fought more harmoniously in a group. That was it though. We could take them!</p>
<p>We decided to rest up beneath the tree. Not that we needed shade in the ever-evening. Arya had healed Carol and she moved towards me. "Nah, I'm okay. Heal those two first," I gestured towards Divin and Taro. They took the brunt of the attack and had more cuts than others. "OK," she smiled and moved on to heal Taro.</p>
<p>I, on the other hand, opened up my Status Window to check the gains.</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Novice] Mage - Level 3</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>HP</th>
<th>MP</th>
<th>SP</th>
<th>XP</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>103/150</td>
<td>34/950</td>
<td>2/35</td>
<td>136/400</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<hr />
<p>I already had just under 60 extra from the previous level. 'If I helped kill say, 6 of the birds, then I am getting about 12 or 13 XP per kill', I mused, 'Not bad, I guess'.</p>
<p>After attaining level 3, I could cast Petrificus four times in a row. However, it rarely worked the fourth time. 'I wonder if there is a job I can run that will keep on decreasing the temperature to as low as possible? Or even increase it? Will have to loop on it. I wonder how long it will take to kick in though? Well, no harm in trying out anyway'. I opened up my "spell repository" and quickly added a spell to decrease temperature slowly.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">petrificus_slowly x = while true; do (( x.temperature-- )); done;
</code></pre>
<p>And my full repo of spells now looked like -</p>
<hr />
<pre><code>
incendio x = (( x.temperature = x.temperature * 2 ))
petrificus_totalus x = (( x.temperature = x.temperature / 2 ))
identify o = echo o
test = i=0; while [ $i -le 255 ]; do echo "$(get_char $i) $(get_time)" >> password_hack | sudo -S echo; done;
get_char i = printf "\x$(printf %x $i)"
get_time = date +%s%N
petrificus_slowly x = while true; do (( x.temperature-- )); done;
</code></pre>
<hr />
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>As I was about to add another function to increase the temperature, I heard Divin call out to me. He had sneaked close while I was looking into the window. The rest were still frolicking about below the tree. I was more surprised by the fact that he took initiative to call me out. "Hey, what's up?" I queried.</p>
<p>"What were you and Arya talking about?" he asked with a straight face. I did not understand what he was talking about. Perhaps noticing my befuddlement, he elaborated, "On the last bridge and the one before, when the rest of us were sleeping." 'I guess not all of you were sleeping, eh?' I thought to myself. "Ah that. You see she and I, being a Healer and Mage, can access our editors to create new spells. That is what we were discussing." I replied. "OK" he said impassively and walked away before I could ask anything more. 'What that was about?' I wondered.</p>
<p>I decided to move as well, we had birds to hunt!</p>
Chapter 15 - Avian Prosecution (2)2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2015%20-%20Avian%20Prosecution%20(2)/<h2>Chapter 15 - Avian Prosecution (2)</h2>
<p>Looking back on it, I was astonished that killing living beings en masse was not enough to deter me from moving forward. Leaving this place was enough motivation at first, but later on, I doubt that was true. Perhaps I just didn't care as much when it actually mattered? The mental acclimation sure was working its magic. Carol and Divin didn't think twice before attacking. I had no room for hesitation myself since I was critical support. However, I did see Taro and Julie fighting a losing battle against creeping apathy. I wonder how Arya would've fared if she wasn't a Healer. Her poking at a small vulture with her staff when it tried to attack Julie from the side made it clear she was being affected too, more or less.</p>
<p>This vulture level was the hardest fight we had to fight so far. The monsters came in greater numbers and frequency. They were slightly more powerful than the imps, though I still couldn't see their levels. We were left with a mess of bleeding cuts, many of them deep, after every fight.</p>
<p>Despite all that, our spirits were high. There was no threat of an ambush or death. We were all raking in quite a load of XP. At the end of our fourth fight, the biggest vulture dropped gloves that were not utterly destroyed! Julie claimed them citing her hurt fingers due to constant sniping. All things considered, we were moving at a steady pace. Eventually, Arya reached level 4. The one next was yours truly. I quickly opened my Status Window in the break that followed and made it show all my attributes.</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Novice] Mage - Level 4</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Status</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Health</td>
<td>56/170</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mana</td>
<td>150/1000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stamina</td>
<td>12/38</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Experience</td>
<td>26/500</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Attributes</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Strength</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vitality</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dexterity</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence</td>
<td>13</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Perception</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdom</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Special Effects:</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Magic Boost - You get extra Intelligence, Perception, and/or Wisdom points on every Class Upgrade</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Whoa, 1000 mana? That's a good number!' A quick check on spells after recovering some mana revealed my range was now around 9 meters. Incendio consumed 250 points, while Petrificus ate 200. 'That means I can reduce the temperature by half five times... If it is 100, it will come down to 3 degrees!?! Nah, that'll never work though.' I was now quite clear on the workings of these spells. If it seemed too good to be true, it probably was.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>We followed a similar stratagem in the copse as we did in the ruins. We would encounter a flock of vultures whenever we came across a bunch of trees. After the fight, we would rest in the shade for a while then move on. Quite simple really, no great tricks involved.</p>
<p>My progress to level 4, especially my increased range, meant that now I no longer needed to be in the midst of things to work my magic. While I was still uncomfortably close to the fight, I was not dangerously so. At least not against the creatures we were facing now.</p>
<p>Arya on the other hand was now able to cast heals near consistently. During the last 3 fights and the calm that followed, she took only 2 breaks to recover mana. Many deep cuts and multiple heal spells per cut, yet only 2 breaks! Her range hadn't taken a big leap as mine though, so she still needed to be within a meter or so to heal. She seemed to have stopped sulking at some point. Perhaps having to constantly care for people around her alleviated her mindset.</p>
<p>Julie was actually shooting stuff! I do not know how Skills affect physiology in this place, but her progress was astounding. She could now hit a stationary object within 15 meters 7 times out of 10! She was no longer moving forward on impulse. Ever since we talked about the time dilation, her step has been light yet firm. A definite purpose.</p>
<p>In sharp contrast to Julie was Taro. I have never seen that guy seem down in the past week I've known him. His carefree attitude continued. His Skills with the sword were now quite improved, however. He didn't seem like a toddler with a knife anymore. At least not to my amateur eyes. His swings seemed more sleek and sharp. He was just behind Carol, who got the most fatal blows in.</p>
<p>Speaking of Carol, she was no longer upset. Or she was hiding it pretty well. Either way, I was spot-on about her personality. She conversed with everyone about everything. Even Divin! I wondered how she managed that. During battle though, she was the most focused of any of us. She was fun to talk with though; she and I were even cracking bad jokes now and then.</p>
<p>Almost everyone laughed at those jokes or at least smiled slightly if not outright giggle. Everyone except Divin. I have been with this guy for over a week now and still can't figure out what's going on in his nugget. After our talk last time, he hadn't spoken to me about it again. Almost as if it never happened. His skill, however, was solid. Despite being a front-liner, he seemed to be taking a supporting role. Sure he killed many more than myself and Arya combined. But he rarely went in for the kill. His freeze Skill came in quite handy though. It didn't freeze as much or as fast as my spell, but it worked quite well nonetheless.</p>
<p>Our progress was efficient. A while after me, Carol leveled up. Immediately following her, Taro did as well. Divin soon joined the club. Only Julie was left in level 3, but she was pretty close as well. A third of her arrows were gone.</p>
<p>In fact, even her bow was showing signs of its usage. The bowstring had spouted small tendrils at the ends. Taro and Divin's swords had small chips on the edges. Only Arya's staff was somewhat undamaged. All our clothes were now quite dirty, with various cuts and stripes. It was worst for the knights. While we could hold on, for now, I wondered how we would fight the monsters in latter levels with tattered clothes and broken weapons.</p>
<p>'At least my spells will not degrade with time or use,' I consoled myself. 'Come to think of it, there should be magical spells to repair wear and tear of equipment. I wonder how it would work? I have no clue how to program threads to tie together or flatten out a dented metal. Does one have to be a tailor or blacksmith type Craftsman to use such spells? Or perhaps, it's that intuitive I-don't-know-how-but-it-just-works bullshit Skills. Why isn't my magic so... magical? So not fair!' And I undid my own consoling.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"It has been 7 days, 9 hours, and 36 minutes since we began from Spawn Point!" Betty's voice intoned. We were close to the exit of level 3. The vultures had been the greatest XP harvest so far. Arya was even halfway to level 5!</p>
<p>I wasn't doing half bad myself. I bet everyone else had accrued quite a lot as well. Except perhaps Julie. She reached level 4 not long before we sighted the exit. We were now taking our customary nap on the abyss bridge. I decided to sleep as well, given I had not slept for over 4 days now!</p>
<p>I wasn't asleep for long when I woke up again. Perhaps it was the constant fighting in this weird world, but I slept quite lightly. I felt something move off to my side. I opened my eyes to see a flustered Arya shuffling beside me. I looked up at her. She smiled apologetically and whispered, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."</p>
<p>"It's alright. What's up?" I asked and glanced quickly at Divin. He seemed asleep, but I wasn't fooled.</p>
<p>"Ah, did you find the password to admin?" she asked.</p>
<p>"Oh... Nah, that didn't pan out! The longer that spell runs, the more resources it takes. I don't have enough mana capacity, so it abruptly ends without any proper output." I muttered. The while loop with constant calculations consumed 1 or 2 mana per second as long as it ran. But when I changed the test program to append output to file, it started off with 3 mana but within the next few seconds, it was taking up to 10 mana points per second and continued its upward trend. No way I could sustain it. Also, the file wiped itself if the program didn't conclude successfully. So, after the first time when I ran it and consumed all MP I had, I didn't run it again. I did keep in the repo, just in case.</p>
<p>"I see... That's too bad." she sputtered back, crestfallen. I didn't wanna leave the conversation hanging like that, so I decided to ask a random question that popped into my head. "What do you think the next level is gonna be like?"</p>
<p>Before she could answer though, Taro was up. We looked at him, he smiled in return before sneaking over to us and whispering, "I hope its a bursting volcano! Also, we can fight a dragon there."</p>
<p>'This guy!' I suppressed a chuckle. "You know we are barely able to fight vultures here, if a dragon comes up, we're dead meat." I could see his eyes were still shining. 'I would like to see a dragon though.' I paused. 'From very far away.'</p>
<p>We did small talk until eventually, Julie woke up. Divin, who I assumed was pretending to sleep, woke up as well. Not Carol though, we had to drag her back from her dreamland.</p>
<p>We made our march to the entrance of level 4. Even from the bridge, I could see the dense undergrowth that lay beyond. A level of a forest, I presumed. A sense of foreboding shook my nerves as we stepped onwards.</p>
Chapter 16 - Mini Boss?2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2016%20-%20Mini%20Boss/<h2>Chapter 16 - Mini Boss?</h2>
<p>As we stepped past the entrance and inched our way towards the trees, I noticed that this level was slightly different than all the previous ones. The dusky light that had accompanied us so far seemed to have given way to darker shades of itself. A heavy fog hung over the arena, getting denser inside the trees. The trees themselves were rooted quite close together and looked uninviting. Unlike the withered old bunch of the last level, these ones were teeming with vitality. Dark green leaves swayed silently to the tender breeze that shifted the fog ever so slightly. The terrain felt alive. Dangerously so.</p>
<p>Everyone else was similarly affected. Carol no longer dared to go ahead to scout. We were all bunched together, moving as one organism. Poor formation for combat but no one suggested otherwise. As we stood a few steps before the first tree, a slight hesitation numbed our progress. 'Should we just head inside? What if we get ambushed? There is no way to counter here.' Worries plagued my mind. I wondered what sort of monsters inhabited such a dark and intense place.</p>
<p>"Should we just... Get on with it?" Julie whispered. True, there was a small track going through the woods. 'Thank the creators for this mercy!' "We don't have any other choice," Taro mumbled. Unfortunately, the track was small enough that only 2 people could fit in tightly across. Little discussion was required before we fell into formation - Taro and Divin up front, myself and Arya in the middle, and Carol and Julie covering the rear. Arya had loaned her staff to Julie. Everyone had their weapons drawn.</p>
<p>Our cautious footsteps made no sound on the soft undergrowth. The fog surrounding us afforded the view of a few trees around us, but it seemed to grow slightly thicker with every step forward. A slight wind made a few leaves shiver, and my heart started beating faster. Thankfully the rustling died quickly and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in. It was at that moment that our only source of light decided to make an announcement - "This is level 4 of the Dungeon, Lair of Panthera!"</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>The moment she said it, we all stopped and bunched up even closer. Glancing around frantically in all directions revealed no monster. There was a pin drop silence as we stood rigid waiting for something to snap at our heels. The image of monstrous crocs was still fresh in our minds. Seconds slipped by, nothing happened. After a couple of minutes of a tense standoff with mute fog, Taro took a tentative step forward. Divin slowly followed. Both of them had their swords raised in either direction. I was not far behind. With Taro's lead, everyone started shambling ahead. No sign of enemy so far. Yet no one spoke, not even a sound.</p>
<p>Suddenly I heard another rustle somewhere behind me. Others did as well, as we all halted our reluctant march. Just as I turned around to see what was up, a shadow leaped out from the bushes at Carol. She was quick to raise her arms and hold the daggers to defend herself. I saw as it overpowered her stance with pure strength as she fell on her back. The shadow jumped again, with the intent of disappearing in the darkness on the other side. It succeeded in knocking down Julie on the way, the staff breaking like a twig. Soon it disappeared and silence reigned.</p>
<p>Julie was unhurt - Arya's staff took the brunt of the force. Carol, on the other hand, was bleeding profusely. She had deep long scars on her forearms. One of her daggers was lost. It was the best outcome for her, given the situation. The thing had lunged at her throat; her falling ironically saved her life. It was quite a close call. Arya was stacking heal upon heal on her wounds. Us guys were covering the women from three sides, keeping a close lookout for the shadow.</p>
<p>Just one encounter and we lost two weapons. One of us as hurt as well; luckily with non-fatal injuries. This level was not looking so good. It was a testament to our hardened will that none of us made a run for it. It must've been exactly what the creature wanted, so it could pick us off one by one.</p>
<p>A good minute and Carol's wounds were halfway healed. We changed the formation again. This time, I was taking Carol's place holding one half of the staff. Julie stood beside me. We had formed a crude sort of circle, having an eyeball in every direction. No one moved. No one spoke. We all waited with bated breath for this mysterious foe to attack again.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"In front," Divin whispered under his breath. Everyone turned and looked in the direction our path was heading. There I saw yellow eyes surrounded by dark fur. The eyes were reflecting the glow of Betty who was hovering behind us. Nothing else could be seen in the fog. I gulped unconsciously at the ghastly scene. Once the creature saw that our attention was pinned on it, it made a low guttural growl and vanished again. 'Fucker is toying with us!'</p>
<p>"A black panther," Divin whispered. I noticed his voice quiver a bit. "It's baiting us," I grunted. "What's our plan?" Carol murmured. No one answered for a few seconds. Gears were turning in everyone's brains. 'It is not as powerful as the crocodiles, so it cannot one-shot us - at least I hope so. It is however faster, stronger, and stealthier than everything else we have faced before. Also, this forest feels like its home terrain. It's too fast for me to cast a spell-chain. Only close-quarter weapons have a chance, but it uses hit-and-run tactics. We can only defend for now.' "We can only defend for now," I said out loud. No one responded, but they all held their weapons tighter.</p>
<p>Not a moment after I said that did we hear another rustle, this time from Taro's side. Immediately, I moved closer to him. Broken staff in one hand, palms held up for the other. Divin moved to his side. Others took a step close as well. The panther jumped out again, but instead of attacking, it feinted. Perhaps us cramming together made it change its mind. This, however, was a golden opportunity for me. I immediately followed the shadow with my palm and cast incendio.</p>
<p>I was 250 mana lighter. The spell was cast successfully. However, I did not get any XP notification. As expected though, it would be too easy if it died to a single incendio. However, its speed ensured I'd never get a chance to cast another. We waited in a tight formation for 5 minutes more but no other attack came. 'It must be recovering from the spell's damage. It will be warier now that it knows we can hurt it.'</p>
<p>Several more minutes passed by. We decided to move on. No point in staying in one place for too long. While it did take us by surprise the first time, now we knew the sign of its approach. We could perhaps scare it off. 'Wait, how many of these panthers are there? Also, how are we supposed to level up and reach the next level if we can't kill them?' I got lost in my new scary thoughts, arguably not the best time to be absent-minded. I got my lesson soon when I was a second too late to notice the rustling sound which sounded awfully close to me. I could do nothing but barely raise the staff in my hand when the furious yellow-eyed shadow leaped on me. Everything moved in slow motion. 'Am I going to die? This feels so weird!' The thing hadn't even touched me when I stumbled backward and fell. Out the corner of my eye, I noticed a sword thrusting ahead. The shadow deftly avoided the straight blade by leaning it slightly and having it slide through its tough fur. And then it landed on me.</p>
<p>Just as its claws dug deep into my stomach, I had a moment of clarity. 'I am so <em>stupid</em>!!!' I had a spell to counter it all along. 'Too bad I won't get a chance to use it. I hope these guys make it through somehow.' I didn't care much about death now. Yeah, I was scared of dying at first, but then realized where I was. I was even slightly glad that it was me that was going. 'Soon, I'll be back home!' I thought and closed my eyes.</p>
Chapter 17 - Curse Series2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2017%20-%20Curse%20Series/<h2>Chapter 17 - Curse Series</h2>
<p>I jolted awake to a numbing pain in my abdomen. I had no idea what was going on. I opened my eyes to see some girl flashing a torchlight on my torso with tears in her eyes. For some reason, I felt her tears were more out of fright than worry for me. 'Why do I even care about that?' I wondered. Some dude with a sword was glancing around and then at me with furrowed brows. 'What is <em>he</em> mad about?' I thought. Tilting my head, I saw a few more people standing around with their backs to me. While they were just standing, I could feel the tension in their stance. Or was it fear? Another guy with a sword was actively quaking in his boots. 'What are they all looking for?' I eventually managed to sit up after some difficulty. The pain didn't make it any easier. 'Why is my shirt all torn up? Wait... Is that blood? What the hell is...' and then reality hit me like a cold shower.</p>
<p>I was still here. I was still alive. The panther gouged out my intestines - or so I felt, and I quickly fainted. The torchlight was Arya casting healing on me non-stop. Thankfully, I was past the worst. Not bleeding anymore. 'Healing magic is really overpowered here.' Everything felt weirdly squishy though. Not to mention long scars that decorated my stomach. I noticed them through my tattered shirt. The shirt looked more like a crop-top now. I calmed Arya down, asking her to slow the constant barrage of heals coming my way and explain what happened.</p>
<p>Must've been about 5 minutes since I was mauled. Divin was the one who thrust his sword at it first. While the feline did dodge and escape being pierced, there was cold damage that it could not escape. Not to mention Taro's sharp strike to its side. Even Carol manage to scrape it with her only dagger. All in all, we managed to hurt it more this time around. Although we got more than we gave. It hadn't attacked since - licking its wounds perhaps. I was badly hurt but it wasn't immediately fatal. Back home, if I couldn't get urgent medical assistance, I would have died very slowly and very painfully. That sort of wound it was. The others were clearly rattled. This was the first time since coming here that any of us got so close to dying. Not to mention our current situation - hopeless was an adequate description for it. 'Speaking of hopeless...' I had a small smile on my lips. Arya looked at me like I'd lost my mind. Divin, who was still slightly frowning for some reason, queried: "You have a plan?" 'Damn right I do!'</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"You okay? How do you feel?" she asked. Perhaps she <em>was</em> worried about me. "I feel like I got my guts gouged out!" I joked. She wasn't amused. "Ahem.. I'll be alright. Thanks," I placated her, "And yeah, Divin. I do have a plan." The others were listening in on our conversation and I could feel the tension lessen a bit. Carol's shoulders visibly slouched as she asked, "What be the plan?"</p>
<p>One reason we couldn't land extensive damage on the creature was because it was too damn fast. I could barely cast a single spell. For my spells to take full effect I had to cast them multiple times in a row. I had no idea why doubling or halving the temperature didn't cause any significant issue to these creatures. 'Oh wait... Magical Resistance, Duh!!!' Of course. I even had an attribute that was directly related to magic resistance. I just couldn't make the connection because it never came up. I was never magically attacked! It is not unreasonable to assume that monsters had resistances as well. 'Ah! That is why the imps basically shrugged off my heat spells. They probably had very high resistance to it. Makes sense.' As for our current feline problem, I had just the spell to use. One attack is all I need. It will stick on like a leech and keep reducing the temperature, as low as it can go! This was less of a spell and more of a <em>curse</em>.</p>
<p>As I explained my curse spell to the team, I could see their hopes rise. "It might take a while to affect though, even I'm not sure how long. So I suggest we don't let it slip by next time. Divin, Taro & Carol can follow it in the forest as it retreats. Then you can finish it off." "Why are we splitting up?" Taro asked. "Well, two reasons. First, if all of us go in, we could get lost in the fog. If we split up, half of Betty will remain here and act as a lighthouse. Second, there is no point for all of us to go. I am injured and will only slow you down, Arya is a Healer so she can't help in a kill - about healing, I doubt you'd get injured as the thing will be freezing and in no condition to fight by the time you get close to it, and Julie has no close-range weapons." I explained my reasoning.</p>
<p>I opened up my Status Window to see my health was down to 61 but rising rapidly. Arya had restarted her heal, though with lesser frenzy. 'I wonder how low I went?' No time for that though. The tension in the air was now at its lowest since the attack. It must've been a few hours since we entered the forest. Thankfully, the fog didn't get any denser and our vision of a few meters around us remained intact. With a plan to subdue our foe, we cautiously made our way ahead.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"It has been 15 hours and 21 minutes since we entered level 4!" Betty replied to my question. The panther had left us alone so far. Too bad for it, it did not have a magical Healer on its side. We had continued our slow and steady march through the foggy forest. We didn't stop at all. Our stats were all full and we were primed and ready for any action.</p>
<p>If the previous levels were any indication, I'd say we were more than halfway through this one. The chances of being attacked were increasing with every step we took. So did our vigilance. We were back in our original formation. I started wondering when the thing would show up when I heard the slight tell-tale rustle. It came from the right, towards Taro. We all ganged up within a moment. It lunged at Taro's throat. We had discussed earlier how to avoid getting our guts or throats ripped off. Following the same, Taro crouched down, almost hugging his knees. The panther fell on him, using his back as a launchpad to leap at Divin. Just as it was about to jump off, I moved my palm towards it and shouted, "PETRIFICUS_SLOWLY!"</p>
<p>The panther was startled to hear my raised voice. Being a veteran hunter though, it immediately changed its trajectory and decided to retreat. Unfortunately for it, the damage was done. Arya hastily cast a couple of heals on Taro. Within a few seconds, he was disappeared in the fog following Divin and Carol. Sudden silence assaulted our ears, and I took a calming breath. I had done what needed to be done. I flipped my finger up and noticed the rate of mana consumption. 'I guess it started off with 10 mana per second like usual but now it is consuming 13... Oh wait, it is 19 now. 19. 19. 19. 19.. 24!' Every few seconds, it jumped up by some amount. It must've been about 50 seconds later when it stopped. Towards the end, it was consuming more mana at a faster rate, concluding by leaving 408 points intact. A quick calculation revealed the curse had taken 592 mana in about a minute. 'Not bad, I guess. As long as it worked.' I closed my stat window and sat down leaning against a tree. Muck was no longer an issue, my clothes couldn't get dirtier.</p>
<p>Must've been a couple of minutes after I sat down that I suddenly felt like I had leveled up and more. Looking across the two girls revealed a similar reaction. 'They did it!' I thought and opened up my Status Window to look at my gains.</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Competent] Mage - Level 5</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Status</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Health</td>
<td>179/200</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mana</td>
<td>408/1050</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stamina</td>
<td>38/43</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Experience</td>
<td>324/600</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Attributes</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Strength</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vitality</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dexterity</td>
<td>7</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence</td>
<td>14</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Perception</td>
<td>8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdom</td>
<td>8</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Special Effects:</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Magic Boost - You get extra Intelligence, Perception, and/or Wisdom points on every Class Upgrade</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Oh, I got extra points on Perception and Wisdom. Cool! Hey, did I get exactly 500 exp? I had 324/500 before entering this level.'</p>
<p>Talking with Julie and Arya revealed they had gotten an extra Skill each. Arya had gotten something similar to group heal. All allies within a certain distance from her would automatically heal when the Skill was active. It appeared to be weaker than her normal heal though. For Julie, it was something called True Shot. The description was a bit vague but it seemed like some sort of homing mechanism. She tried it out on a nearby tree and hit <em>exactly</em> the spot she was aiming at. "It costs all my mana though," she lamented. However, I could tell she wasn't upset about it - quite the opposite. It was truly a game-changer for her.</p>
<p>Soon the rest of the gang returned. With souvenirs, no less. They had a new sword, a set of daggers, a staff, bow & arrows, and some sort of ring. Also, 6 distinct unisex apparel. Everything was of a higher quality than what Betty had provided for us. I picked up a brown robe-like piece that screamed 'Mage' and put it on. The rest divided the stuff among themselves. Apparently, the equipment was for 6 Base Classes. After some discussion, I decided to keep the ring. It must've been meant for Craftsmen, there was some worn motif on it. It could be enchanted, I could study it. Further discussion revealed each of us had acquired exactly 500 XP. All of us were now "Competent". Divin received the sharp Skill that Taro already possessed, while Taro got a wind-related Skill. It let the cut from a swing extend beyond the physical edge. Carol on the other hand received something similar to Julie's True Shot, except it was for daggers.</p>
<p>Everyone changed their clothes and equipped their weapons in their private corner behind the trees. A few more hours of light trekking got us to the exit of this level. No one hesitated to step beyond. This time, the bridge was different. It was wide enough to allow two cars to run parallel with space in between. It also looked properly built and well maintained. I immediately slumped over and fell asleep by the side. Almost dying is quite taxing on your mind, I learned.</p>
Chapter 18 - The Mage Situation2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2018%20-%20The%20Mage%20Situation/<h2>Chapter 18 - The Mage Situation</h2>
<p>"...found it, it was just lying down. Its breath was forming a mist. We finished it off together. Then it turned into a shadow-like whoosh and disappeared. Next thing I know, we find all this stuff just lying around underneath." I heard Taro's animated voice as soon as I woke up. "Yeah, and soon as 'twas dead, I got a Class upgrade. Out of nowhere, I'm a competent Scout! And I got this cool dagger Skill as well. All better that I got more daggers." Carol continued. I got up and looked around. Everyone was awake, waiting for me. 'Nice of them,' I thought.</p>
<p>We didn't wait for long before starting our march ahead. We were still near the start of the bridge, and this one was slightly longer than all the previous ones. Our feet no longer dragged with the burden of our straining experience - instead, our stride held renewed determination. No doubt spurred by the new clothes, equipment, and Classes. Walking without having to worry about ambush made my mind wander. 'I'm a competent Mage now. But unlike others, I have no special Skills. So the only thing I got is the extra points? Surely not. Betty mentioned a qualitative change! By the way, why doesn't a Mage Class have any Skills?' I wondered.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Say, Betty, why don't Mage have Skills?" (Me)</p>
<p>"Skills for the Mage Class were deprecated 84 versions ago when a test subject caused anomalies in the test run." (Betty-the-wisp intoned)</p>
<p>"What anomalies?" (Me)</p>
<p>"I'm afraid I cannot answer that." (Betty)</p>
<p>'I see, so another programmer was kidnapped before me and they messed with the test somehow. The creators then decided to nerf the Class so no one else could take advantage similarly!'</p>
<p>"Why not just remove the Mage Class then?" (Me)</p>
<p>"Mage Class is one of the Base Classes of the simulation and deeply entrenched in the storyline. Removing it is infeasible." (Betty)</p>
<p>"Makes sense. But what about the test subjects who selected Mage is last 84 versions. How did they make it out of the tutorial?" (Me)</p>
<p>"They didn't." (Betty)</p>
<p>'Ouch'</p>
<p>"So are mages limited similarly in the outer world as well?" (Me)</p>
<p>"No, the limitations apply only to test subjects." (Betty)</p>
<p>"What's the outer world like anyway?" (Me)</p>
<p>"I'm afraid I cannot answer that." (Betty)</p>
<p>'Of course, explore and experience'</p>
<p>"But what is the point of this test though? What is the aim? How does it end?" (Me)</p>
<p>"The main storyline will be explained by the characters when you arrive there." (Betty, moving away from me as if she didn't like my questions)</p>
<p>"What about the Class upgrade? Wasn't there supposed to be qualitative change? All I got were some extra points!" (Me, returning to a hopefully favorable topic)</p>
<p>"You have received a higher privilege level of interacting with the environment with the Class upgrade. It also raised the priority of resources allocated to you." (Betty)</p>
<p>'Interesting...'</p>
<p>"Care to explain more?" (Me)</p>
<p>"I'm afraid I cannot." (Betty, deadpanned)</p>
<p>'Of course, you can't. The creators must really hate programmers for whatever hell my predecessor raised. I guess I'll have to find out for myself.'</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>So far, I had somehow made it with temperature-related spells. But that could only take me so far. 'First on my list is to increase my spell repo variety.' Also, I needed to find out what Betty meant by higher privilege and resource priority. A thought suddenly struck me as we were rounding a corner. Yeah, there was a turn on the bridge! I lifted my hand and pointed my palm towards Julie who was walking ahead of me. "Identify," I whispered. I noticed that I could intuitively feel what my range was, not having to test it out. "12 meters, looks like." Also, a new window opened up with Julie's status</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Competent] Archer - Level 5</h3>
<p><em>Special Effects</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Telescopic Sight: You can see further away without losing any details.</li>
<li>Physical Boost 2: You get extra Dexterity, Agility, and/or Stamina on every Class upgrade.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Skills</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Rapid Fire: Shoot multiple arrows successively with little delay, increasing fire rate.</li>
<li>True Shot: Arrow hones in on a target, greatly increasing the chance of a successful hit.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Whoa! I can see Skills now? Neat!'</p>
<p>I immediately cast 'Identify' on others. 'Somehow feels like I'm violating their privacy though.' Nobody stopped me but I decided not to cast it again without permission. That being said, I noticed everyone had at least 2 special effects and Skills. One of the effects was always Boost of some kind.</p>
<p>'I wonder what else has changed?'</p>
<p>As I was lost in my thoughts, the entrance to level 5 came up. We quickly decided to continue. No one wanted to stay in this place for more than necessary. This was no sightseeing trip. Not that there was much to see anyway. I shelved my unnecessary thoughts and decided to create a to-do list, in the repo itself.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">todo = (echo "* Increase spell variety\n* Check changes from Class upgrade")
</code></pre>
<p>'todo sounds so very... normal. Since I'm here, might as well go all out!' I changed the function name from 'todo' to 'questlist'.</p>
<p>We were still near the entrance. Betty hadn't announced anything. I decided to do a quick check. Looking around to ensure there was no threat, I muttered under my breath - "questlist."</p>
<hr />
<ul>
<li>Increase spell variety</li>
<li>Check changes from Class upgrade</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Looks good! Lost 1 mana point as usual.' I closed the window, took a deep breath, and focused on the upcoming fight.</p>
Chapter 19 - Speed Levelling (1)2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2019%20-%20Speed%20Levelling%20(1)/<h2>Chapter 19 - Speed Levelling (1)</h2>
<p>On level 5 we encountered a grassland filled with insectoids that were a cross between beetles and grasshoppers. Incendio worked quite well against them.</p>
<p>Level 6 saw us facing a swarm of overgrown snakes. Easy pickings. Arya broke her staff though, whilst thrashing the ground around a particularly agile snake.</p>
<p>Level 7 pitted us against cute but annoying hummingbird-like monsters. Ironically, they gave us more trouble than the vipers. Julie was down to half her arrows.</p>
<p>When we found the gorilla type monsters on level 8, it almost felt too easy. Sure they were a bit more intelligent. Yes, they ambushed and swarmed us every now and then. But it was all for naught. Taro's sword broke in this level and he got reluctant experience in using a short-sword.</p>
<p>Nothing but smooth sailing all these levels. I didn't invest time in any more experiments. We barely took any naps on the bridges. Somewhere along the way, Carol had lost another dagger.</p>
<p>Our merry band of test subjects had become a monster-slaying juggernaut, nigh unstoppable.</p>
<p>Now we stood in front of the entrance to level 9. While recent victories ingrained a dash of vanity in our steps, our close call in the last boss battle tempered our hubris. I decided to do a quick check on my stats and attributes.</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Competent] Mage - Level 9</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Status</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Health</td>
<td>290/290</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mana</td>
<td>1200/1200</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stamina</td>
<td>50/50</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Experience</td>
<td>129/1000</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Attributes</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Strength</td>
<td>10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vitality</td>
<td>10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility</td>
<td>10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dexterity</td>
<td>11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence</td>
<td>18</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Perception</td>
<td>12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdom</td>
<td>12</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<hr />
<p>'Hmm, numbers are rounding off nicely,' I reflected. 'How about my repository?'</p>
<hr />
<pre><code>
incendio x = (( x.temperature = x.temperature * 2 ))
petrificus_totalus x = (( x.temperature = x.temperature / 2 ))
identify o = echo o
test = i=0; while [ $i -le 255 ]; do echo "$(get_char $i) $(get_time)" >> password_hack | sudo -S echo; done;
get_char i = printf "\x$(printf %x $i)"
get_time = date +%s%N
petrificus_slowly x = while true; do (( x.temperature-- )); done;
questlist = (echo "* Increase spell variety\n* Check changes from Class upgrade")
</code></pre>
<hr />
<p>Incendio took 200 MP, while Petrificus took 170; Identify was down to 20. I did not get another chance to cast a curse again after the panther encounter. 'Oh, that's right - I have to write incendio_slowly yet.' "test" and "questlist" were not so useful so far. My range was somewhere around 20 meters. While my spell toolkit was low on variety, that would be remedied in time. I no longer had any lingering regrets of choosing the Mage Class.</p>
<p>My Class-up did have certain effects that I hadn't noticed before. Whilst earlier I could select target ranging from a blade of grass to a big rock, now I could select partial objects as well. Like half a blade of grass or only one side of a rock. I could select my spells to affect a certain body part of the monsters. This precise control also extended to my ability to select a region. Earlier while I tried freezing the ground, I could only guess what area was actually affected, unlike now where I could select it.</p>
<p>As I wondered about this, Julie took a nervous step forward. I shook my head to clear it of protracted thoughts and joined her. Well rested and primed for action, we entered to meet our fate.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>This arena of level 9 was no bigger than level 0; smaller than that even. Instead of slimes, however, this place was inhabited by a single large being resting right in the center. Its snores lifted what little dirt remained on the ground into the air. Even sleeping, it exuded an attitude of owning this place. Or perhaps uncaring of whoever did.</p>
<p>From afar, it looked like a big ball of fur. We ventured in further guardedly, ready to flee at a moment's notice. Soon the monster came into view.</p>
<p>What looked like a ball of fur turned out to be a creature that had gone extinct from Earth - a freaking mammoth. And it was HUGE!</p>
<p>While we were all in plain sight of the beast, it was still in its merry dreams. Betty hadn't made an announcement yet, so perhaps this time, <em>we</em> could be the predators doing sneak attacks!</p>
<p>Julie was right beside me. She notched her arrow and looked at me. I nodded my head. She took her aim while I looked at others to ensure they were set to retreat. Then I looked at the napping fur ball and waited in anticipation.</p>
<p><em>whiz</em> The arrow flew. Apparently, Julie used her True Shot Skill, as the head flew true and struck the monstrosity right on its forehead. And tumbled down its tusk. The sloth didn't even twitch.</p>
<p>"Damn, the thing has got some thick skin!" exclaimed Taro. We were losing our stiff demeanor. All our caution seemed wasted.</p>
<p>We were still quite a bit away from the mammoth. In fact, we were much closer to the entrance than it. At a loss for what to do next, I suggested I'd check out magic attack. After Julie, I had the best range. Everyone agreed.</p>
<p>As I tiptoed closer, I truly grasped just how big the monster was. Its tusk was long enough to skewer me straight through. And I was about to rudely wake the behemoth from its peaceful slumber.</p>
<p>Thinking back on my similar encounter with crocs, I gave another thought to what spell I should use. Freezing one wouldn't work, obviously. But the heated one wouldn't affect much either. A curse could work, given enough mana. Unfortunately, I had no good spell against the giant. I decided to just go for a chain of Incendio. But first - "Identify!"</p>
<hr />
<h3>Yakawawiak - Level ?</h3>
<p><em>Special Effect</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Transient Life: You are a temporary variable in a short-lived calculation</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Skill</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Tusk Rush: With a burst of unnatural speed and a flash of your ivory weapon, rabble of enemies are left behind in pieces in your wake.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'What in the hell is that name?' I was in disbelief. However, I was not swayed from my goal - the giant loaf mere 20 meters ahead of me granted no such respite.</p>
<p>"Incendio! Incendio! Incendio! Incendio! Incendio! Incendio!" I jabbered. I had used my new Skills to aim right at the eyelid. As soon as the last word escaped my lips, I ran with all my might back to the entrance. My companions had already made themselves scarce.</p>
<p>Just as I reached the entrance, I heard Betty's declaration as her splinter merged with her original: "This is level 9 of the Tutorial Dungeon - Yakawawiak's Pit!"</p>
<p>We watched with abject fascination as the hulking frame lifted off the ground. I had a feeling the beast was staring right at me, with one eye red. I checked my mana points - 400 remaining. So four of the spells hit home. And all they did was give it an itch. This was going to be a difficult fight.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Spells didn't do much damage. Just like the arrow." (Me)</p>
<p>"Yeah. And now it's awake and waiting for us with vengeance. Although, it looks wee dumb." (Carol observed)</p>
<p>"Oh yeah, but it's got a rush Skill like those vipers." (Me)</p>
<p>"Good to know. Identify is quite useful. Wonder if we can get it on upgrade?" (Taro)</p>
<p>"Any ideas on killing it?" (Divin)</p>
<p>"My arrows are no help here. I can probably distract it but that's all." (Julie, slouching)</p>
<p>"I doubt we will win by attacking head-on." (Me)</p>
<p>"Ummm, I think so too. Perhaps we can lay a trap or something?" (Arya)</p>
<p>"A pitfall could work." (Divin)</p>
<p>"Aye, but who's gonna dig such big hole. And I doubt the thing will just let us do whatever." (Carol)</p>
<p>'Ah, so this is how craftsmen could help.' (Me, to myself)</p>
<p>"Assuming we could build a pitfall and lure the thing in, how are we going to kill it? The only weakness seems to be its eyes. I guess its belly could be as well. We gotta trap it upside down or sideways somehow." (Me sharing my train of thought)</p>
<p>"We can dig a pit just enough for its legs. If it works correctly, it will tumble over. As for luring it, it has been eyeballing you ever since it woke up." (Divin, turning to me)</p>
<p>'Does this guy want me dead or something?' "How are we going to dig a pit though?" (Me, parroting Carol)</p>
<p>"I will help you distract it Pat. As for the pit, we've got no choice but to use swords and daggers. Thankfully, the ground is not too hard." (Julie)</p>
<p>"I don't think it will work. Digging a pit with just swords, I mean." (Me)</p>
<p>"Do you have a better plan?" (Divin)</p>
<p>"Hmm no. Guess we can at least try this one." (Me, preparing myself for the worst)</p>
<p>And so Julie and I went inside the pit where the mammoth was waiting for us. I went right, she went left. The beast stood still in the center, but its eyes were tracking me for sure. As I stood about 60 meters away from it, the beast nonchalantly turned its head towards me.</p>
<p>"So it begins," I whispered to myself, primed for flight.</p>
Chapter 20 - Speed Levelling (2)2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2020%20-%20Speed%20Levelling%20(2)/<h2>Chapter 20 - Speed Levelling (2)</h2>
<p>Just as I had gone right, Julie went left. My attention was fixed on the creature, so I could not see how the digging was progressing. Quite poorly, I feared. That being said, my job was to gain as much time as possible and keep the monster distracted. With that in mind, I stood there staring at it while it stared right back. I saw Julie, thoroughly ignored, creep closer to her position. She, the mammoth, and I were now at an obtuse angle with about 50 meters between each in that order. Behind me was the pit wall, perhaps to stop the prey from escaping.</p>
<p>As I stood there contemplating my next move, the furball took action. Ever so slowly, it raised its massive legs and took a step forward. One could be forgiven for thinking that a being of this size was moving at a suitably low speed. I wasn't fooled, however, as I knew of the bursts a rush Skill could cause. Without another thought, I took a step back. The monster would take one step towards me, I'd take a couple of steps back in sync. So it went on for several seconds. Until my back finally touched the solid wall.</p>
<p>I noticed Julie gesturing something to me. 'Stop? Stay here? Can't she see I'm about to become fucking kebab?' I almost shook my head. But then I realized that she was rapidly moving towards the blind side of the mammoth. 'Ah, she aims to lure it towards herself?' I took a step away from the wall, raised my palm, and waited for the thing to come into my range.</p>
<p>Thankfully, my range was longer than its Skill, for I was able to select it before it rushed me. I again chose the same eye as before, now selecting it directly instead of through the eyelids. I whispered four Incendios. The new spell chain seemingly did the trick, it closed its red eye with a pained grunt. I could see a trickle of orange fluid that must've been its blood flow down. That didn't stop its progress, however.</p>
<p>The beast was about 15 meters away from me now. 'Come on Julie, shoot fast!' I prayed. I saw her taking aim from the side.</p>
<p>13 meters. The creature suddenly stopped in its tracks. For a moment, the very air was stilled. The fur on its body bristled as it bent its hind legs a little. Out from the left, I heard Julies customary <em>whiz</em> of an arrow. The arrow struck true, right in its healthy eye. Just as the arrow struck, the quadruped showed off why it was the boss of the arena. With such acceleration that seemingly ignored its massive frame, it rushed at me. Newly blind and howling from the pain, it did not correct its course as I veered far out of its trajectory.</p>
<p>The mammoth thundered towards my previous location as if its tail was on fire. And then it crashed into the wall with resounding cracks. One for the wall, other for its skull. It then slumped down, eyes bleeding freely, with a new orange stream joined from the forehead. Soon, its fur changed from dark brown to bright orange. Then it melted. I stood there utterly mesmerized as what was once a majestic creature was now a rapidly evaporating pool of orange blood. Shortly thereafter, the last vestiges of the creature's existence dissipated, leaving behind a veritable pile of resources. With a slight nudge to my consciousness, I became aware of my increased XP, along with the resulting level up and Class up.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Told ya it was dumb," Carol cackled. I was still in a state of incredulity over the sorry way the boss monster died. "Well, I ain't complaining," I replied with a small smile.</p>
<p>"Are you both okay?" Arya looked at Julie, then me. "I'm good," Julie said. "Me too," I said with a warm smile. 'I thought her cold and distant when we first met, but she's actually quite sweet,' I reminisced. "I ran away long before it came near me. By the way, that was a hell of a shot, Julie. Might've just saved my life there," I praised Julie. It was truly remarkable - while the aim was not much of an issue on a stationary object with her True Shot Skill, the timing of that was impeccable. A moment earlier and the thing would've just retreated. A moment later and it would've missed entirely. "Thanks! I got lucky this time, so don't count on it to keep happening," she said with equal parts of humility and caution, while checking her newest acquisition - a longbow.</p>
<p>We were standing in front of the pile of clothes and weapons left behind. While my current robe wasn't in as dire replacement as my previous clothing had been, I took it nonetheless. The new one was not the common brown anymore, but a grey version that was both thicker yet lighter somehow. 'And so comfortable! I think I can sleep on the stone floor with this on without issues.' Everyone had graduated from brown clothes to grey ones. We hadn't changed yet, the place was essentially an open barren land walled off from all sides. No opportunities for private cloth swap.</p>
<p>Arya took on her new staff. This one had a bit of design on it - not unlike the patterns on the ring. Besides that, it was the same as before. Carol got another set of daggers; her dagger count now reaching a total of four. Taro threw his broken sword away and took the new one. Divin claimed a set of artistic gloves. They had patterns on them as well along with redundant design. 'Redundant design? Since when can I distinguish between useful patterns and otherwise?'</p>
<p>I immediately opened my full Status Window to check for any changes.</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Proficient] Mage - Level 10</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Status</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Health</td>
<td>310</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mana</td>
<td>1290</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stamina</td>
<td>52</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Experience</td>
<td>1100</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Attributes</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Strength</td>
<td>11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vitality</td>
<td>11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility</td>
<td>11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dexterity</td>
<td>12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence</td>
<td>20</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Perception</td>
<td>14+1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdom</td>
<td>14+1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Special Effects:</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Magic Boost - You get extra Intelligence, Perception, and/or Wisdom points on every Class Upgrade</li>
<li>[Apprentice Robe] Augment Perception/Wisdom - You get a minor reinforcement to spell casting and magical defense</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Oh, I am proficient now? Also got extra points on some attributes. Apprentice Robe eh? So equipment can have special effects as well, just like in a game. But still, why do these patterns stand out now and not before? Is this the intangible benefit of a Class upgrade? I should check if Betty knows something...'</p>
<p>"What is it?" Divin asked.</p>
<p>"What?" I blinked back.</p>
<p>"You were looking as if something bit ya," Carol supplied helpfully.</p>
<p>"We were talking about the new Skills we've got. You zoned out there for a while. Got something good?" Taro said, slightly excited.</p>
<p>'Ah, I totally missed the conversation.' "Oh, sorry. There seems to be some effect of Class upgrade that I can't figure out," I apologized. I removed the ring I acquired in the last upgrade and showed it to Betty, pointing at the seemingly innocuous designs on it. "What does this pattern mean, do you know?"</p>
<p>"Why yes! It is a Rune. Spells can be etched onto suitable surfaces that can be cast by expending mana points. Such spells are called Runes. While there are a variety of Runes, ranging from the complexity of arrangement to usage restriction all of them come under the Runic category of general spell etching," Betty replied with emotionless cheer. Perhaps she was looking forward to this question for a while.</p>
<p>"What do the Rune on the ring mean?" I asked back. I noticed everyone else was paying rapt attention to our conversation.</p>
<p>"I'm afraid I cannot say," Betty, back to her cheerless voice.</p>
<p>"So how do I etch a Rune?" I insisted. By now, we knew that while the bot wouldn't outright refuse to answer a question, there were some she preferred over others. If asked about anything unrelated to this world, she moved away from the interlocutor to signify her disinterest. If asked something related to the system and lore of this world, however, she was unusually forthcoming - mostly.</p>
<p>"Etching a Rune is similar to casting a Spell, except that it executes at a later time instead of immediately." she replied as if expecting me to understand.</p>
<p>I did not ask anything else, instead trying to internalize the new information. 'So etched spells are just like compiled binaries. Instead of writing the function and calling it, you compile the source and "install" it on an physical object. Interesting! I wonder if I can reverse engineer it with Identify.' With that thought, I held the ring in my palm and selected it. "Identify," I spoke out loud and a new window opened up.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Apprentice Healer Ring</h3>
<p><em>Special Effects</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Augment Attunement - You get a minor amplification to the healing rate of others</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Why didn't I try this before?' This ring's effects were useless to me. I thought of giving it to Arya later on. 'That being said, it doesn't help me one bit in understanding Runes. Maybe I'm going about it wrong?'</p>
<p>"We should head out," I heard Julie call out. I moved accordingly, but my mind was still stuck on the issue. 'What am I missing? Ah!' A sudden inspiration struck me. I again help the ring in my hand as I was walking behind others towards the exit. This time, I selected only the pattern that stood out. "Identify," I intoned softly.</p>
<hr />
<p>x617474756e656d656e74 = x617474756e656d656e742b310a</p>
<hr />
<p>'Okaaay... Gibberish. Could be a condensed hex dump. I doubt I can get anything from this.' I sighed and closed the window. I was slightly disappointed. Unknowingly, I had harbored high hopes from the experiment.</p>
<p>'Oh, we are halfway done with the tutorial already!' "Betty, how long have we been here?" I asked. "It has been 13 days 2 hours and 1 minute since you all arrived at Spawn Point." 'Not bad.'</p>
<p>"We've made good progress," Taro extolled from ahead. 'Not that we have anything to compare to, but it could've much worse,' I thought. "I agree," I concurred.</p>
<p>I was still lost in thoughts on Runes and hex dumps when we came upon the exit and made our way out.</p>
Chapter 21 - Abaia Swamps2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2021%20-%20Abaia%20Swamps/<h2>Chapter 21 - Abaia Swamps</h2>
<p>"Well, this is new," I heard Carol muse. It was new alright. Level 10 of the Tutorial Dungeon was unlike any other level before. While it was still the dusky sky above and pleasant temperature about, the area before us was unlike anything we've seen before.</p>
<p>So far, we'd encountered barren lands, decrepit ruins, hills and plains, variety of fauna ranging from fresh shrubs to withered oaks. All of them were, however, solid land. The sight I beheld was similar to a serene ocean, filled with inky black waters. I would've mistaken it for smooth glass had I not noticed minor ripples disturb the smoothness every now and then.</p>
<p>Taro picked up a pebble lying near the entrance and threw it into the water. I immediately had flashbacks of a tentacle monstrosity from a certain movie rising up in a similar situation. No appendages moved, yet I heard Betty announce something from the back - "This is level 10 of the Tutorial, The Abaia Swamps!"</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Looks like we're on some sort of a beach," Arya quipped.</p>
<p>"Looks like. How are we getting across though?" I asked.</p>
<p>No one spoke for a while. The answer was obvious - we walk through. We didn't know how deep the swamps were, however, nor what sort of creatures inhabited them.</p>
<p>"First, we go fishing," Divin said with a smile.</p>
<p>"Yep, the Abaia already noticed us after the pebble, now it's our turn to see what they are. Then we kill them." Julie seconded.</p>
<p>'Wow, Julie has gone to the dark side!' I thought. Then again, I was thinking similarly. "Let me Identify them first," I said, as I walked ahead to the edge. Flanked by Taro & Divin and backed by the girls, I stood there with my palm outstretched, hoping for a selection. I moved my hand in a random direction over the waters and kept getting a selection after another in quick succession. As if under the serene surface, there was a swarming nest of creatures. Many of them were stationary though, as if in hibernation. I quickly selected one, then another, and then another. All of them said the same -</p>
<hr />
<h3>Infant Abaia - Level 2</h3>
<p><em>Special Effects</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Transient Life: You are a temporary variable in a short-lived calculation.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Skills</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Short Circuit: Stun both predators and prey with your electric discharges.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>Oh the same creature that I had identified last, I threw an Incendio. It immediately moved away from its resting place, causing a disturbance in the small area around it. One of its neighbors came up to the surface for a bit, long enough for me to get a good look at its outline.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Eels, aren't they?" (Arya)</p>
<p>"Yep, I clearly saw it. About a meter long, like a snake. And it has got an electrical attack?" (Julie, turning to me)</p>
<p>"Yeah, although I can't say for sure if it's ranged or not." (I replied, thinking about possible lighting spells I could glean)</p>
<p>"Killing them is not much of an issue. The problem is their number, and the fact that we have to wade through them to reach the exit." (Divin, stated matter-of-factly)</p>
<p>"I can clear a path using Incendio temporarily. The problem is that the moment the spell lifts, they will swarm us. Need to check how long the effect lasts and if we can pace ourselves through." (Me)</p>
<p>"Yes, you clear an area, we will cover you from the sides." (Taro, with nods from others)</p>
<p>I cast Incendio once and checked how long it took for the eels to gather around against my mana regeneration speed. The plan was that if I could recover my MP before the eels gathered, we could simply cross by chaining Incendios. Unfortunately, it was not to be. The eels came back faster and I had recovered just over half of the cost of Incendio. Petrificus pushed them into deeper hibernation. I mentioned the same to the group.</p>
<p>"Hah... it's time to grind our levels then!" (Taro)</p>
<p>And so we did, edging along the coast. I'd cast multiple Petrificus over an area while the rest went wild on the eels. One time, Carol stabbed an eel that had jumped out - it turned into the same inky black water it had jumped from. Another time, Taro drifted out of the petrified area and ran afoul of a bunch of the critters that coordinated together to give a sustained electrical shock. Thankfully, he fell back into cold waters away from them.</p>
<p>One eel did not give out much of XP, between 10 to 20. However, rarely did we find a single eel on its own. They were always bunched up in groups of anywhere between five and fifty. Even Julie, who was using her arrow as a mini-spear, would hit multiple in a single thrust. I bet it wouldn't have been so easy if they weren't spell-cooled.</p>
<p>As I was resting on the sands recovering my mana and watching the slaughter, I felt an instinctual tug of level up. I opened up my Status to check the gains :</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Proficient] Mage - Level 11</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Status</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Health</td>
<td>350/350</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mana</td>
<td>1000/1330</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stamina</td>
<td>55/55</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Experience</td>
<td>0/1200</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Attributes</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Strength</td>
<td>12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vitality</td>
<td>12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility</td>
<td>12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dexterity</td>
<td>13</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence</td>
<td>21</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Perception</td>
<td>16+1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdom</td>
<td>15+1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Special Effects:</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Magic Boost - You get extra Intelligence, Perception, and/or Wisdom points on every Class Upgrade</li>
<li>[Apprentice Robe] Augment Perception/Wisdom - You get a minor reinforcement to spell casting and magical defense.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>I had a minor insight on why the attributes did not linearly correspond to stat points. It was because they also had a hand in the regeneration of said stats. So whenever I had an increase in stat point, as I did now in HP, there would be a corresponding decrease in regeneration speed. This meant my mana regeneration was higher this time around. 'Lucky!'</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the MP consumed by my spells no longer decreased. Both were stuck at 150 for some reason. Identify was down to 10. While the increase in Mana capacity technically meant I could cast longer chains of a spell, it never worked in practice. After a few casts, the spells no longer affected the target.</p>
<p>Opening up my questlist, I chuckled at my todos -</p>
<hr />
<ul>
<li>Increase spell variety</li>
<li>Check changes from Class upgrade</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>I had a good idea for my next spell. I added it as a sub-quest. And removed the abstract "check changes"; I may have sorta completed it anyway.</p>
<hr />
<ul>
<li>Increase spell variety
<ul>
<li>Stun spell using potential difference</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>I glanced at Arya alongside casting self-heal. "Leveled up?" she inquired. "Yep, I'm gonna check if we can move on. Can you watch my back?" I requested. "You got it," she acquiesced.</p>
Chapter 22 - Stupefy2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2022%20-%20Stupefy/<h2>Chapter 22 - Stupefy</h2>
<p>The journey across the swamps was simple thereafter if tiring nonetheless. I chain-casted Incendios to move the eels out and make way. Thankfully, the route was easy to infer as well, it simply became deep if we went astray. Halfway through, everyone had leveled up. By the time we sighted the bridge, I had leveled up again!</p>
<p>'Guess we can skip levels, eh?' Upon the bridge, I requested the team for a long break to work on something. We had decided to stop our nap-times on the bridges a while ago. While it did make our excursion quite time-efficient, I rarely got a chance to experiment on new stuff. This was one of the few times I could do so with impunity. The next "test" was for my new lightning spell. I figured that since electricity is simply the transfer of energy across a path of least resistance from higher potential to lower, I could create two points of potential difference and it should work.</p>
<p>'Okay, so far, the Status Window has managed to capture my intent. It shouldn't just be the window though - the code I write is my will itself, interpreted by the "core". So if I do this...' Thus, I started my experimentation on a new spell while recovering mana.</p>
<hr />
<pre><code class="language-sh">
create_low_point l = while true; do (( l.potential-- )); done;
create_high_point h = while true; do (( h.potential++ )); done;
</code></pre>
<hr />
<p>I used a loop since the voltage required for "sparks" will vary with distance and medium between the two points. It didn't matter if it looked like an infinite loop since I could cancel the spell from my side as well whenever I wanted. Or it would stop on it's own when it couldn't affect the target anymore. 'Okay, here we go.'</p>
<p>I picked up two pebbles lying nearby. Arya, Divin, and Taro looked on expectantly. The other two were resting. "Ne, what are you doing?" Taro enquired. Before I could answer, Arya interjected - "He's probably trying a new spell, right?" "Right on" I smiled. Juxtaposing the pebbles about 2 centimeters apart, I cast my spells in quick succession. Selecting pebble on the right: "create_low_point ", then in the same breath on the left one: "create_high_point "; that done, I kept an eye on the stats.</p>
<p>Both consumed 10 mana points as they started. Every other second, the consumption increased by 2-3 points until it reached 20 per second when there was suddenly a small "crack", not unlike a static shock. I canceled the ongoing loops. "Lightning Spell..." Divin murmured. "Hell yeah! Can you make a big one fall from the sky as well? That would be EPIC!" Taro was more excited than I was by the success. "Nice work. You got fire and air down. If you get water, earth and heart as well, we'd have our own Captain Planet!' Arya quipped. I looked at her with a deadpan face. 'What an old ass joke, who would even get that? Oh wait, I did. Damn.' "Who's Captain Planet?" Taro asked. No one answered. I shook my head and contemplated making the spell more efficient and deadlier than the playful pinch it was now. 'Perhaps use partial surfaces and multiple points? Also, I should combine these into a parent function; I have a perfect name for it...'</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>The later levels' monsters were barely worth mentioning. The terrain itself was quite varied though.</p>
<p>We had waist-high scorpion-type monsters in a desert region on level 11. Thankfully, they weren't poisonous.</p>
<p>On level 12, we had a Tundra-themed area with packs of dire wolves.</p>
<p>Level 13 had us battling in a valley against griffons. This time, they were even named so.</p>
<p>All of us were level 14. The creatures had started bleeding since level 11, albeit not the exact color of human blood but close enough. Our equipment, once again, was in dire straits. Carol was down to one dagger. Julie lost a lot of arrows in the valley, now down to just 10 or so. Divin's sword had its endpoint missing. Fortunately, our clothes, while dirty, took abuse like champs. A good wash and they would be good as new.</p>
<p>I was quite looking forward to the next Class Upgrade. The first one increased the effects of my Perception, allowing me to select small or large areas of anything in range. The latter gave me the ability of Runes. I had yet to fully explore that one. For now, I can only distinguish between patterns as spells or not. I did try to experiment with it in what little lull-time we got, but I couldn't for the life of me create any Runes. I tried copying the exact pattern on the ring, Arya's staff, and Divin's gloves into the dirt, but no success. Oh, Divin's gloves were shredded too, griffon claws are no joke. Thinking of possible gains with the next level, I hoped it was something Rune-related. Just imagining the extent of applications made my mouth drool.</p>
<p>None of us talked of home again beyond passing mentions of similarities. For better or worse, we were highly focused on finishing the Tutorial. Even conversations with Betty lessened. There wasn't much to ask her about anymore and she wasn't the best conversationalist anyway. We had rested on this bridge instead of moving on like usual - it would not do to enter a boss fight with anything but the best state.</p>
<p>Soon enough, we got up. No one needed any urging. As if it had become a habit by now, that our actions simply were in sync. Carol took lead, followed closely by Julie. The knights were slightly behind and covering the flanks. Arya and I were in the rear and clumped together. Betty trailed at the end.</p>
<p>The entrance led us to a well-lit area. 'Wait no, is that the Sun? And what is this warm breeze I feel on my cheeks? Am I in heaven?' Weeks of the dusky sky and temperate air had dulled my senses to a point where I was shocked to a standstill just witnessing this miracle. I simply closed my eyes and let it all wash over me. I was indulgent to the point of losing myself when Arya elbowed me, "Get a hold of yourself, there could be a monster around!" I grunted, thankful and yet not for her reminder, as I took in the surroundings.</p>
<p>We were moving at a slow pace, as we usually did before identifying our opponents. Soon we came upon something halfway between a large hill and a small mountain. It was hollowed out a bit from the side to form a large cavern. Sparse trees and broken stone structures were lying near the base of the same.</p>
<p>If not for this ominous structure, this place would have been perfect for a picnic. No one doubted that the cavern was where our foe lay. I wondered what sort of creature could inhabit such a large cave. And why the sunny ambiance anyway? Soon, the group decided to take cover under the shade of an outermost tree and plan the next steps.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"What should we do?" (Carol)</p>
<p>"We have to identify the monster. I bet it's inside that cave. One of us should go and check." (Me)</p>
<p>"I agree. Would you like to go? You have the most damaging and versatile attacks." (Divin looking at me)</p>
<p>"It's a recon run, not an assault. Attacking power does not matter. I have no Stealth and lowest SP among us." (Me, slightly annoyed for some reason)</p>
<p>"I'll go," (Carol, interrupting any counter to my statement) "But not alone. Nay. I'll take lead and go inside to take a looksie. Ya'll hang around the mouth and come help if I scream."</p>
<p>"Sounds like a plan. Let's go." (Julie, ending the conversation)</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Pretty soon, we reached the mouth of the huge cavern. Taro, Arya, and I took position by the left side with Julie and Divin went to the right. Carol muffled her footsteps and ventured inside.</p>
<p>After a few tense minutes of nothing happening, we relaxed our guard a bit. I looked at Taro who has started fidgeting.</p>
<p>"What do you think is - " he started but was cut off by a loud deep roar that shook not only the cavern but our very bones. I heard Betty said something but I was in no state to notice.</p>
<p>Everyone stood still, not taking a breath. We looked at each other and came to a similar conclusion. It would be extremely foolish to enter the cave. Whatever was inside, even its fart would be the death of us. Our hesitation lasted for a bit, but when the ground shook with the steps of the creature inside making its way out, we took off for the level entrance without a second thought. Carol... She could take care of herself. She was a Scout for a reason. She was the best of us at hiding, evading and running away. We all rationalized the situation in our minds.</p>
<p>After a while of sustained sprinting, I stopped. I was at the very end of our group. Running was not my forte; and even with increase stats, I was the slowest and close to winded. I glanced back to see Carol running out of the trees. I waved at Carol. She didn't wave back. Instead, she screamed at me to run faster, her eyes wild. I did not want to know what she saw in that cave; but my eyes were drawn to the entrance anyway. I saw a brownish reptilian head poking out, glaring at Carol as she headed our way. The head was not unlike the crocodiles, but its edges were more pronounced. The head came out, followed by a long neck. The brown color shifted in the sunlight, and I saw that they were scaled. A clawed hand the size of my torso grabbed the cave entrance where I stood not long ago. The monster walked out, huge bat-like wings followed. It let out another terrifying roar that even at this distance made me want to shit myself. Then with a flap of its appendages, it took to the sky.</p>
<p>'Ah... Shit!'</p>
Chapter 23 - Dragon Hunters2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2023%20-%20Dragon%20Hunters/<h2>Chapter 23 - Dragon Hunters</h2>
<p>"<em>A LESSER DRAGONLING?</em>" Carol fumed, "'Tis as big as a damn house, and ye tell me not only it be a wean but a <em>lesser</em> one? Aye, we're getting skelping alright."</p>
<p>"Uhm, yes. That's what Betty said." Taro fumbled about looking helpless at Carol's onslaught.</p>
<p>Somehow, we managed to make it back to the entrance. Apparently, the monster of this level was an infant dragon of a lesser variant. It had not yet developed fire-breathing related organs nor learned proper flying. Not that it mattered, it could still sneeze in our general direction and we drop dead.</p>
<p>As it were, it was now perched on top of the hill-mountain. Unblinking eyes locked onto the entrance. Seems like it had trouble going far away from its cave since it couldn't just fly in and out. Maybe the dungeon restricted monsters from leaving their area? Or perhaps it was just lazy. I was thankful enough for that; it had saved our lives.</p>
<p>According to Carol, she had activated two of her skills before going in - one to muffle footsteps, another to shroud her in darkness and mask her smell. The latter was a new one she got from her last Class Up. After following the only way in, she came upon a large hall-like structure with a small pile of old coins and dusty broken equipment in the center with the creature snoring nearby. She stayed by the foyer taking it all in when her mana ran out. She had miscalculated the drain by keeping two skills active for so long. As soon as it happened, she scrambled back towards us.</p>
<p>As we lingered by the entrance, lost in our thoughts, I noticed the dragon let out a big yawn, showing off sword-like teeth visible even at this distance. It let out a snort and left its perch. With small hops, it leaped down into the cavern mouth and vanished inside. I glanced at the others, seeing my determined look reflected in theirs. Time to hunt a dragon.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"All right, anyone got any ideas?" (Julie, starting the brainstorming session)</p>
<p>"Head-on attacks are out. I bet we can't even scratch it. And I doubt magical attacks work either." (Arya)</p>
<p>"Nor can we take the risk to find out. Our only option is to attack from a range." (Divin)</p>
<p>"But I'm almost out of arrows. And I don't think they would much help either way. We shouldn't let it out the cave. Inside, its movements are restricted." (Julie)</p>
<p>"But how are we going to keep it inside? Even if we do, how will we damage it?" (Taro, panicking)</p>
<p>'And here I thought you wanted to wrestle with a full-grown dragon atop an active volcano. Heh.' (Me, in my head)</p>
<p>"..." (Everyone, lost in thought again)</p>
<p>"I may have something." (Me)</p>
<p>"What is it? Another trap?" (Julie)</p>
<p>"Well, sort of. I imagine it is still inside the hall, sleeping soundly thinking itself safe and secure from all attacks. Which it is, in a way. So we won't be attacking at all. What if we start a bonfire inside the cave and let the smoke in? Dragon or not, it still needs to breathe." (Me, a little smug)</p>
<p>"Y-You... You want to kill a dragon by suffocating it?" (Taro, bewildered)</p>
<p>"Bwhahahahaha, PEDRO!" (Carol, losing it)</p>
<p>"Asphyxiation. Yes, it could work..." (Divin, apparently visualizing the plan)</p>
<p>"Sometimes, you can be pretty scary, you know?" (Arya, looking at me sideways with a slight smile)</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Without dallying further, we got to work. The chances of this plan working were quite high - as long as preparations went off without a hitch. That meant the dragon had to wake up only when it was choking to death. Any earlier and all efforts go down the drain, along with our element of surprise.</p>
<p>Felling the trees was quite efficient with sharpened wind strikes of Taro's swings. Divin helped cut the logs into manageable pieces, which Carol piled into the cave somewhere. She had found a perfect place to light the fire, such that smoke would blow inwards naturally and clog the hall. Arya, Julie and I ferried the logs between Taro, Divin and Carol. Carol would also sneak in from time to time to check on the napping reptile.</p>
<p>We worked tirelessly. I wiped out my SP more often than not, requiring frequent breaks. Finally, after however many hours, our setup was complete. The dragon hadn't noticed us at all. Out "blootered" according to Carol.</p>
<p>I held a dry branch in my hand, not unlike a torch. We were standing outside near the entrance. I watched others gather around me, jaws set in grim determinations. Taking in a deep breath, I selected the top part of the branch and chain-casted Incendios on it. Soon enough, it was set aflame. I handed the makeshift torch to Carol, who promptly disappeared inside. Minutes ticked by as we waited. Eventually, a head of disheveled curly reds stormed out and we marched back to the level entrance in silence.</p>
<p>I wasn't sure what to expect. After the bone-chilling roars, I half expected the dragon to swoop in while I was shifting the logs. Later, I envisioned it exploding out of our hasty bonfire, enclosing on us like a giant iron maiden. Yet, nothing happened. Apparently, the stories about the pride of dragons weren't without merit. Or was it because of the stories that it was so? Either way, it was done now. In fact, this was the best-case scenario. All we had to do was wait.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>We did not have to wait for long. I felt the familiar pull of Class Up in my mind. 'So the dragon is dead. Looks like it died in its sleep.'</p>
<p>I was about to open my Status Window to check my gains when I halted my finger mid-air. Something felt... Off. Different somehow. So far, I was able to select any object by pointing my palm straight at. It didn't feel like I had to do that now. I could actually select multiple objects simultaneously - anywhere between five to ten, depending on factors like size and distance. Without pointing my palm at any one in particular. With a hunch, I lifted my other hand. While the area of effect stayed the same, I realized I could select at least three times as more objects. 'Holy Shit! Looks like I got another Perception related upgrade. An uber-powerful one at that'</p>
<p>Deciding to experiment with it later, I opened my Status Window.</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Expert] Mage - Level 15</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Status</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Health</td>
<td>530/530</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mana</td>
<td>1690/1690</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stamina</td>
<td>63/63</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Experience</td>
<td>823/1600</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Attributes</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Strength</td>
<td>16</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vitality</td>
<td>16</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility</td>
<td>16</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dexterity</td>
<td>17</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence</td>
<td>26</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Perception</td>
<td>22+1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdom</td>
<td>20+1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Special Effects:</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Magic Boost - You get extra Intelligence, Perception, and/or Wisdom points on every Class Upgrade</li>
<li>[Apprentice Robe] Augment Perception/Wisdom - You get a minor reinforcement to spell casting and magical defense.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Hmm, my mana is totally off the charts. Still not enough for the password hack test though. Did I rename that function? I should do it soon. Health is... okay I guess. Stamina is pathetic as always. Not much else to see. I bet others are salivating over new skills!' Slightly peeved, I opened up my repo. Renamed test to hack_pass, added the long-overdue incendio curse and moved questlist out of sight below so it won't interfere with my view of spells. Also added a few items to it, making it a proper list of quests. 'Yeah, that should do it.'</p>
<hr />
<pre><code class="language-sh">
incendio x = (( x.temperature = x.temperature * 2 ))
petrificus_totalus x = (( x.temperature = x.temperature / 2 ))
identify o = echo o
hack_pass = i=0; while [ $i -le 255 ]; do echo "$(get_char $i) $(get_time)" >> password_hack | sudo -S echo; done;
get_char i = printf "\x$(printf %x $i)"
get_time = date +%s%N
petrificus_slowly x = while true; do (( x.temperature-- )); done;
incendio_slowly x = while true; do (( x.temperature++ )); done;
create_low_point l = while true; do (( l.potential-- )); done;
create_high_point h = while true; do (( h.potential++ )); done;
</code></pre>
<hr />
<p>'All in order. How about my questlist?'</p>
<hr />
<ul>
<li>
<p>Main Quest</p>
<ul>
<li>Escape simulation
<ul>
<li>Complete tutorial</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>Side Quests</p>
<ul>
<li>Extract core password</li>
<li>Create new rune</li>
<li>Create parent function for stupefy</li>
<li>Investigate new multi-point selection effects</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'This will do for now.' I closed my windows. 'Five more levels to go!'</p>
Chapter 24 - End Game2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2024%20-%20End%20Game/<h2>Chapter 24 - End Game</h2>
<p>We made our way to the base of the mountain. The cave was still filled with noxious fumes, so we decided to camp out under the trees. Not that I minded in the least; the warm sunshine and soothing breeze almost made me forget that I was trapped in some weird simulated alternate reality. Carol and Arya volunteered to say near the cave and monitor the smoke situation.</p>
<p>I wasn't tired at all, so I sat down in the shade splaying my legs out and started experimenting with my spells. I added a new spell that selected all possible objects near a target and created points of potentials.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">
stupefy xs = i=0; for x in xs; do if [ $(( i % 2 )) -eq 0 ]; then create_high_point x; else create_low_point x; fi; (( i++ )); done;
</code></pre>
<p>The effect of "Stupefy" was like a bunch of random splintered static sparks converging from all sides. It sucked up mana like no tomorrow, but it was quite a sight to behold. Exhausting my mana, I closed my eyes for a bit, imagining creating Runes of Stupefy. An unfortunate passerby would activate one by mistake and immediately get pinched by static shocks from all directions.</p>
<p>'I still need to work on increasing the damage. Perhaps I could increase the resistance temporarily so the difference created is higher? Should do something to the ground as well. Convert it into quicksand so they cannot run away. And add alternating Incedios and Petrificus inside the pit. Not that I would trap an innocent passerby, no sir! Just the monsters. Maybe a few who deserves it as well? Yes. I am close to an "Earth" spell. This new multi-point selection is awesome. It lets me select volume as opposed to the area that I had so far. Perhaps "Wind" as well? Heh, maybe I can build an all elemental super awesome pit trap. Even able to trap dragons! Come jump me now kitten, trying to scoop my guts? Let's see you run when you're neck-deep into the ground getting shock therapy. Huehuehuehue...'</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Pat, wake up. Hey, <em>wake up!</em>" Taro's voice brought me out of my dream. 'Wait, did I doze off?' "Haha, sleepyhead. Come, the cave is mostly clear. Time to collect out the loot!"</p>
<p>"Ah, oh. I see. Let's go..." I murmured. "Betty, how many days has it been so far?" I queried. "It has been 24 days 19 hours and 16 minutes since you all arrived at Spawn Point," Betty replied.</p>
<p>"Whoa, we spent close to three days in this level. I can't believe it!" Taro exclaimed.</p>
<p>"I can. Perhaps we missed the Sun more than we thought. And it staying fixed above didn't help us hurry along with either. Still, it has been close to a month, eh? Soon we'll be out of here." I brightened up. A bit of sleep and a positive attitude encouraged me, no doubt.</p>
<p>"You bet. I wonder what this outer world is like? It's the "real" simulation according to Betty." Taro uttered as we fell in line with the other two moving towards the cave. Moving in formation was second nature by now.</p>
<p>"If the tutorial is any indication, it is not much different from our world. Well, except the monsters. And magic, of course." Julie filled in.</p>
<p>"But what about the people? What level of technology are they at? Going by our apparels, equipment, and Classes, I would say the world is at the later middle ages. When religion clashed with science and swords with firearms. It probably reached Renaissance earlier than our world due to existence of magic, and yet did not move on to modern age as their scientific progress stagnated for the very same reason." Divin expounded. This might have been the most I've heard him talk at once. I had to agree with him though, I had very much the same theory.</p>
<p>"Oh, I can't wait to go and explore the world out there! I will join the Adventurers Guild first. Become the best-rated adventurer. Maybe along the way, I'll meet a few - " Taro caught himself in time, covering his embarrassment with a cough. It wasn't hard to extrapolate his thoughts though, I had read a few of such stories as well. In my opinion our world held far more wonders that whatever dreams the authors conjured up. Many we take for granted by the day. The only saving grace was the magical abilities. Or rather my research into them. I couldn't picture myself swinging a sword day in and day out like a drone, facing murderous monstrosities to earn a pittance. 'Nah, I'm gonna stick to my custom main quest. I won't mind exploring a little though, not like I don't have the time.'</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>The conversation continued as we reached the cave entrance. At length, I noticed the glowing embers of our bonfire, the area around and above it slick with soot. Carefully walking across without disturbing the structure, we arrived at the foyer beyond which lay the dragon's hall.</p>
<p>The hall was... Unimpressive. It was more of a big room - an extension of the cavern. And in the center lay smoldering ruins of what may have once been coins and equipment. The wooden stuff was char already. However, inside the smoking ruins was a small clearing, which held our "loot".</p>
<p>Six robes, as usual. These were, however, different from earlier ones. Each one was unique. Carol picked a robe that was almost pitch black. It felt like it melded in the shadows. Julie picked up one that looked lighter and silkier in comparison. Taro picked up another that was thicker than the current ones. It could probably survive a direct sword strike or two. Arya's had frills on the side for some reason and looks silky like Julie's. I picked up one that was close to black like Carol's without the melding ability. Instead, it had a pattern that I quickly identified as a Rune on the hood. Divin was left with a baggy one that had a lot of deep pockets on the interior.</p>
<p>Instead of two swords, there was one sword and one shield. Divin claimed the former, Taro the latter. The longbow this time was the same as the previous one, with the addition of Runes. The new staff held a sharp point that the bottom. Carol got a set of dangerous-looking daggers whose color matched her robe. I watched in abject fascination as the light from the torch was almost sucked in those black depths. But another thing caught my eye. There, by the side lay an unoffending wand. Closer inspection revealed it to be close to a pen than a stick. 'Is this used to etch Runes? Hot damn!' I immediately lay claim to the item.</p>
<p>I filed away a side quest to identify all the new patterns. Upon going through the rest of the stuff lying around the "hall" and finding nothing interesting, we decided to move on. After switching to newer equipment, we headed to the exit. The bridge was exquisite this time. If not the pristine condition, faultless tiling, decorative railings then the very scale of the thing beggared belief. I doubt I had seen bigger bridges than this in my life. If one stood on one side, then they had to shout at the top of their lungs for their voice to reach the other end. Not that we scattered as such. We all stayed close to the right railing and advanced together. After another turn and a bit more walking, we reached the entrance for level 15!</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>The levels further in kept varying their terrain. The difficulty had raised a notch with the monsters becoming diverse in their capabilities as well. The pen-wand was useless, I couldn't get it to work. It didn't matter though, we went through the monsters like a knife through cheese.</p>
<p>Level 15 was the site of an inactive volcano with fire-breathing toads slushing about in the mud.</p>
<p>On Level 16 we were cutting through head-high grass filled with poisonous hedgehogs that loved to sneak attack.</p>
<p>Level 17 was a nostalgic tropical forest with gorillas again. These had lightning punches though.</p>
<p>And Level 18 had us grappling on a steep mountainside with a valley reminiscent of the bridge-abyss. Eagles with wind slices harangued us all the way.</p>
<p>Level 19 was what we assumed to be the last boss since we'd be reaching level 20 here. We faced an aggressive squid-faced monster big as a barn. However, we had the least trouble at this boss fight than the others. Probably because it was built on the assumption that since we trapped or tricked many bosses earlier, having an ultra-aggressive one that required a strong front liner would be challenging. We had two front-liners though. And a mage with high damage output (depending on the situation). I bet having a craftsman would have been a liability here.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, we collected our loot, replaced our equipment, and marched on. There was a final level 20 to go. We reached the connecting bridge, closed in on the entrance. Nothing was visible inside. We decided to take a rest, mayhap our final stop in the Tutorial, before carrying forward. And so I lay on the smooth stone, going through my gains on the last level and learnings throughout, readying myself for the new world!</p>
Chapter 25 - The Fog2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2025%20-%20The%20Fog/<h2>Chapter 25 - The Fog</h2>
<p>I sat there, reminiscing about the bizarre month I had. Fighting monsters, gaining XP and equipment, leveling up - this was truly some RPG game I was a part of. I looked up at Betty, hovering amidst us. Her light had dimmed, I felt. How would she feel when we were gone? Perhaps she wouldn't feel anything. Not that it mattered, she won't be alive for long either way. I stared at her for a while, pondering on the existence of intelligent but unemotional beings, without blood and flesh. Was she ever truly alive to begin with? Aren't I in the same boat as her, being a projection of myself in here? That was one rabbit-hole I skirted around many a time as I interacted with her. Yet even now, I was hesitant to dive deep. The knowledge that we would be leaving her to her unfortunate fate, helpless to do anything else, was not something that I could digest lightly.</p>
<p>And so I forced my thoughts to the more recent event of Class Upgrade. The tutorial was over. I was a level 20 Master Mage with an empty experience bar. The humans in this simulation must be quite something to have a "Master" as a baseline, leaving me curious as to what the actual experts would be like. Betty wouldn't comment on that. Either way, the latest upgrade was more of a synergy between previous effects than anything new. Now, I could select multiple partial objects at range. Same for Runes - while earlier I had to look at a pattern and discern the useful part, now I could perceive it similar to a selection without having to see it. All in all, it neatly tied all previous upgrades together.</p>
<p>I did not take any crafter equipment from the latest haul, so I was left with just the ring and wand. I did take a new robe though. I must say, the designs of our new costumes were awesome. Each one was just as unique as the previous, following the same functional style, but the cosmetics were overhauled. I got a sick pitch-black robe with circular Rune patterns on the hood and back. Arya got a white and cyan color schemed dress with a golden pattern at the edges - which was entirely decorative. Carol's robe was more shadow than cloth, with no visible Runes. I could feel them through my perception though. Divin replaced his baggy one with a new knight-specific robe that felt like it was armored in the right places. It felt like a sturdier and fancier version of Taro's, who had elected to keep his last clothes on. Julie had kept her previous clothing as well, as the newer ones looked too "tight" for comfort. They gave proper bonuses as well.</p>
<p>About the wand, it identified as a crafters' equipment alright. I was sure it had a connection with enchanting, but I couldn't learn the trick behind it. Oh well. My health points were respectable now, enough that I wouldn't die of any random hit. There wasn't much relation between my spells and attributes though, beyond the range and mana point cost. The effects, and corresponding damage, was entirely based on what the program affected. An extension of my imagination.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>As I was lost in thought, my eyes wandered over to meet Arya's. "Thinking up a new spell?" she bantered.</p>
<p>"You know, it is not as easy as it looks to just think up new things." I countered, smiling, "Although if you have any ideas, I'm listening."</p>
<p>"Why not try a healing-related spell? Could be helpful," she proposed.</p>
<p>"Yeah. But I don't know how it works. I'm gonna add it to my questlist though, seems worth looking into."</p>
<p>"You have a questlist?" Arya, scrutinizing.</p>
<p>"It's more of a to-do list..." I explained the way to make one.</p>
<p>While Arya was lost in her editing session, I glanced over our group. Taro and Carol were off in sleepy-land. Julie was peering over the entrance into the next level with a scowl. And Divin, he was staring right at me. I leveled an inquisitive stare back. Eventually, Arya came out of her pseudo-stupor and he averted his gaze, closing his eyes to "rest". 'What is his problem anyway?'</p>
<p>"I'm glad I got the notepad-thingy as well. It's too convenient. And that was an awesome spell. You say you have trouble thinking up new things but I'm amazed at what you have come up with so far. Mage class suits you well!" Arya, gushing praises.</p>
<p>"Ah. Thanks!" I said, slightly embarrassed. I noticed Divin twitch a bit. 'Wait, could it be...?'</p>
<p>Before I could finish that thought, Julie came over with a grumpy face. "I can't see shit in there. It's like that fog on level 4 but only ten times worse. Why is there another level anyway, haven't we reached the required upgrade already?"</p>
<p>I bet she wasn't expecting a reply, less so from Betty. "I'm glad you asked! The next level is not for any upgrade but is tied in with the main storyline of the scenario. You need not concern yourself with gaining experience points; instead, aim to find the exit portal as soon as possible."</p>
<p>'Wow, if that is not ominous, I don't know what is.' For a moment I wondered how many questions we had simply missed asking Betty. Not that it would help. I felt if she was a person, she would have given up long ago, annoyed by our pestering.</p>
<p>"Is that so? Anyway, I think we should leave now. We've rested enough." Julie commented. I sensed she didn't much care for the storyline either way. Too bad Taro was still asleep, he would have gobbled this up.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>We entered the fog in a slightly different formation. The visibility issues rendered having our Scout and Archer being at the front pointless. Instead, the Knights took point. Our Healer and I, a Mage, took the rear. With slight trepidation, we followed a rough animal trail and dared into the unknown.</p>
<p>The trial didn't last long. Perhaps it would be better to say that it morphed into a road. A yellow brick-tiled road. Our group slowed down at this unexpected development, but no one commented. We may not be used to sighting out-of-context placement of iconic elements from our world out here, but it certainly wasn't surprising anymore.</p>
<p>We progressed nonchalantly, our visibility was dropping to such an extent that I was barely able to make out the backs of our Knights in front. I watched as they slowed down, doing the same myself.</p>
<p>"What is it?" Carol hissed. Everyone was tensed to an extreme, even though there was no foe to speak of yet.</p>
<p>"Something is moving ahead. I can't see it properly. Maybe we should move a bit ahead so Betty can cast more light?" Divin whispered back.</p>
<p>Carol and Julie immediately moved and flanked the two. Arya and I moved behind the Knights, to get a close look at whatever and ready to rumble. The movement of light that we expected, however, never occurred. I looked back. Betty was nowhere to be seen. 'Bloody hell?'</p>
<p>"Betty's gone," I muttered. This level - if it even was a "level", was unnerving. More so than any other so far. There was just something unnatural about it. Other levels were more or less meant as a grind to up our stats. This one though felt like revenge. The fog prickled on my skin, tasting of mindless hatred. The sudden absence of our assuring light only exacerbated the feeling. No one remarked, and soon I saw why.</p>
<p>Out front, a few meters ahead of our front-line in the exact middle of the road, was a Slime. To be precise, it was a head-sized crimson slime with a pulsating core. We hadn't encountered such slime before. The blood-red color swirled around the body as if trying to overcome whatever original color it was made of. The core was beating in a heart-like manner, spewing out more of the red liquid. A fitting way to describe it would be a disease or an infection. The red liquid resembled an amalgamation of pure malice - a condensation of the fog. Maybe the Slime had stayed too long in this abnormal vapor. Or perhaps it was born from it.</p>
<p>It was rolling about elsewhere when it noticed our presence. None of the Slimes moved with such swiftness as this one, going at least twice as fast as its uninfected peer. It jumped out at us before we could form any plan. It struck Taro's shield with a bang, dropped down, and jumped back again. This time we intercepted and destroyed it. The damage, however, was done. At the edge of our vision, we saw many other Slimes ambling towards us. We would soon be overwhelmed, god knows how many of these were out there. I looked back at the road, to ensure our escape route was safe. To my utter bewilderment, the road beyond had disappeared. I had no time to deliberate though; the choice was clear.</p>
<p>"The road behind is gone. We must leave. NOW!" I spoke out urgently. No point in whispering anymore.</p>
<p>To their credit, no one hesitated or panicked. We stayed in formation and advanced rapidly. Slimes, infected or otherwise, barely slowed us down anymore. Not a few minutes later, the slimes were joined in by Imps. A few came in now and then. Even the Imps were crazed, the mischief in their eyes replaced by acerbity. Still, we held up fine. Our robes were almost immune against their claws and teeth. We mowed through the deranged masses, coloring the yellow road in crimson fluids. I could be persuaded to believe that it was blood this time. Yet I had no time for idle thoughts. Pacing myself, casting on the ones who came too close, and making sure no one broke through our rear took all my attention.</p>
<p>At some point, the Slimes stopped entirely. The Imps were the majority of the mob, with a few vultures mixed in. I thanked my lucky stars that the crocs were too slow to crowd around us. 'Hey, does that mean we will face all the creatures from all the levels? And they'll all be raving mad? Damn it!' "Move faster! We need to find the exit before we drown in all the creatures!" I shouted.</p>
<p>I couldn't tell if they heard me over the din of Imps and vultures. But I need not have worried. Soon we started jogging instead of simply walking fast. Even so, our formation did not break. The Knights were doing most of the damage now, clearing the road ahead as if hacking through thick bramble in a jungle. Julie stopped shooting as well, choosing to use a dagger that Carol loaned her on the monsters that came within range. I was doing the same, except with Arya's old staff.</p>
<p>Another few minutes of hack-n-slash and the Imps started thinning out. I expected grasshoppers next. I was not disappointed. In fact, the grasshoppers brought some friends along. The incessant humming of the damn birds, hissing of vipers, the rumbling of earth brought on by mammoth footfalls. I could not see out far, but I am pretty sure some demented panthers were stalking us, and a few frenzied dragonlings fly-hopping towards us. 'The squid-face was already hysterical. In this fog, it must have gone berserk! Shit, we are done for. Some tutorial this is! Fuck. I don't wanna die like this.' I was heading towards a breakdown when I heard the sweetest words come out from Julie's direction: "I see the exit! Straight ahead!"</p>
<p>"RUN!" Divin shouted, and just like that our formation broke. He did not wait for any reply, promptly making a break for it. Everyone soon followed. I was left behind again. For these maniac creatures, I was now the easiest prey. All the same, I sprinted hard and peered ahead. Divin was standing still at some distance, the ground beneath his feet glowing. Next to join him was Julie, who promptly notched an arrow and fired it at a vulture trying to rip my shoulder. Carol was next, quickly followed by Taro and Arya. 'For a Healer, she runs damn fast. No fair!'</p>
<p>They stood there, waiting for me. I glanced at the ground, now glowing brighter by the second. I faintly noticed a circle of Runes on it. I did not have the luxury of identifying it though, with hordes of ravenous creatures converging on me. Just as I reached the assembly, the glow became bright enough that my vision turned white. Then I fell.</p>
Interlude - Royal Duty2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Interlude%20-%20Royal%20Duty/<h2>Interlude - Royal Duty</h2>
<p>Princess Francisa Von Lohengramm was nervous.</p>
<p>She glanced around the assembled crowd. Her esteemed father - Lord Lohengramm, stood a few steps ahead of her. His back seemed impossibly large to her. What great burdens he carried, yet stood straight as if defying the heavens. To her side stood her lady mother, who looked at her and gave a slight reassuring smile. Francisa smiled back, feeling slightly at ease. If her lord father was the burning Sun, surely her mother was the soothing Moon. She did not glimpse behind, but she knew Captain of Guards and the Head Maid would be lingering close by. Despite the event being of the greatest import, each family brought only the most essential members of their retinue. Even her little brother was back in his room, sulking.</p>
<p>Other families, of which there were six in total, were standing at equal distance from each other in a small semi-circle. Every major clan's head was present, along with one of royal offspring each. Although none showed it outwardly, she suspected they all were just as apprehensive as her.</p>
<p>She peeked at Anna, her bestest friend. They had known each other since childhood, being close in age and status. Anna stood behind her grandfather, the current head of her clan. Their eyes met and Anna shot a wink at her. Francisa made a shushing gesture but brightened up nonetheless. 'Always so mischievous that one.'</p>
<p>Her eyes wandered over to the only other princess present, Priscilla. She was the youngest at 15, wily nature hidden behind an innocent facade. Many who knew her aptly called her "Prissy" - behind her back, of course. Prissy was staring with poorly concealed hunger in her eyes on an otherwise expressionless face.</p>
<p>Her gaze did not linger long on Prissy. She was about to examine the remaining three clans and their princes but her attention was caught by the murmuring chants of Royal Mages. She gaped at the Teleportation Circle they had prepared before-hand, which started radiating a bluish-white glow. The glow became brighter, illuminating even the high ceiling of their large hall, casting off long shadows behind the pillars. Brighter and brighter it became until its brilliance was dazzling enough that she had to shield her eyes from the intense luminescence. She took a deep breath, ready to play the part she had been raised for. She couldn't disappoint her father now, feeling the pressure of responsibility beginning to squeeze her stomach. 'Here they come...'</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"...Heroes?" she questioned, "What will they do?"</p>
<p>"Why, save the world, naturally!" her tutor answered.</p>
<p>Little Francisa liked the history tutor more than the others. She did look stern, with a tightly held bun of graying hair and unsmiling lips, but as soon as the lecture started, her eyes shined with excitement - one that Francisa shared. Today's topic concerned the ancient prophecy of their world's salvation.</p>
<p>"Six heroes shall rise to legendary levels, ridding us of the unending malaise and bringing forth eternal peace," she continued, "We shall get to see history made with our very eyes! You shall even take part in it; and should you do well, Lohengramm clan shall rise to glory once again!"</p>
<p>Francisa's 7-year-old mind did not dawdle long on the latter part. She had heard it for so long from so many that she automatically brushed it off. She <em>will</em> play her part. But that was far off in the future. Now though, she was intrigued.</p>
<p>"Is that what the prophecy says? How will they save us? Will they kill off all the monsters? What does malaise mean?" she shot doubts one after another.</p>
<p>"Hum, the actual words of the prophecy are lost to time. Thankfully, the interpretations remain. What I mentioned was simply the very end of it. It starts off with how the malaise - which means an ailment, disease, or sickness, by the way, will begin to spread. How it will affect the world and its denizens, then goes on to describe the time and place that the summoning will be conducted to usher the heroes. Eventually ending with eternal peace," the tutor concluded.</p>
<p>"Oh, And what is a legendary level? Will I reach it as well? What about..." Francisa's curious mind bubbled forth many queries that her tutor was happy to address.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"You will cease this nonsense at once!" her lord father declared. He waited for Francisa's meek "Yes father" and stormed out the door.</p>
<p>Tears threatened to erupt at any moment. Her father had never raised his voice at her. Ever. She had always been a dutiful daughter. She didn't understand what she did wrong. Hands gripping tight the folds of the frilly dress Anna and she bought together, she sought the comfort of her mother.</p>
<p>"Aww, come here daughter. It's okay. Father was just shocked to hear about it, he won't be angry for long. Don't worry. There there..." her mother patted her head as she snuggled into her bosom.</p>
<p>"I-I don't understand... Why..." she sniffled. She was just going out with her friends for a stroll. Anna, Fredrick, and Hamilton were probably waiting for her even now. It wasn't like she had done anything. Maybe she had a slight crush on Fredrick, but she wasn't in love or anything and had never acted on it. Well, nothing beyond dressing up a little. And holding hands that one time. But she didn't plan to do anything more. Yet her father had somehow caught whiff off it and scolded her wits out.</p>
<p>"Francisa, look at me," her mother spoke softly. "I understand, this must feel illogical, cruel even. Especially at your age. But you must understand, you are a princess of Lohengramm. Your duty is harsh and responsibilities heavy, even so, you must stiffen up that upper lip and carry it out. For you are the only one who can. Your brother is too young. The very fate of our clan depends on it. Oh, dear daughter, how I wish I could ease your distress."</p>
<p>"But I don't... How do I..." Francisa sputtered. She considered being close to Fredrick would give her experience to do the act when it mattered. She justified her actions as a learning mission. Yet she couldn't raise these points in front of her vexed father. In her mind, she knew she had erred. Almost jeopardized their future while at it. Shame burned in her heart now. She felt like she did not deserve the loving embrace her mother graced her with. Yet her maiden heart soaked up that love in its entirety. Then and there, she swore to never bring disgrace on the Lohengramm name again. She shall fulfill her role, no matter what. Her resolve hardened as the tears dried up. "I shall do my duty."</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>The light blinded her for a few moments, even with her hand raised to block most of it. As her vision returned, she saw the six heroes. Just as the prophecy promised, three men and three women.</p>
<p>One of the women was wearing the apparel of a priest of the Church of Luminaris. Her great-grandmother had been one, she had seen the portraits. The Church no longer existed. The pure white visage with cyan Circles and golden trims begged immediate attention. 'A Healer then?'</p>
<p>Beside her stood a Mage with dark robes and wine-red Circles. The quality of cloth looked slightly above-average but the Circles themselves were superlative. She could identify a boosting Circle on the hood, but the machinations of the one on the back were unknown. Besides, she only saw it for a second before he turned around to face in her direction. She wondered in what state they were before they were summoned. He glanced around the congregation, his sight colliding with hers, raising an eyebrow at her stare. She quickly turned her gaze, slightly flush due to embarrassment.</p>
<p>She almost missed the shadowy figure in the midst. Scrutinizing closely, she noticed another woman with reddish hair hidden underneath the hood. A Scout, she surmised. The Scout was surveying the hall as if expecting a monster to pop out at any moment.</p>
<p>She saw her father take a step ahead. She knew what came next. Quickly inspecting the two Knights and an Archer, she heeded her father's words.</p>
<p>"Heroes, welcome!" he began, "I am Siegfried Von Lohengramm, head of clan Lohengramm and current leader of the Clan Council."</p>
<p>He paused for effect. Francisa puffed her chest, her father always projected a majestic aura. She also noticed varying expressions on the Heroes' faces, from caution to elation. Yet relief was common among all. Only now that she was taking a closer look, she noticed their slatternly state. Rumpled clothes with small cuts here and there, uncombed hair and unwashed faces, dragging muck with their stained shoes. Her father must not have expected them so, yet he simply buried his thoughts behind the courtly face, and his next words assured the matter taken care of - the long speech he had prepared cast off without hesitation.</p>
<p>"Please, do not worry, everyone here is an ally. These are my peers and fellow members of the Council. Our representatives will lead you to your rooms to take care of subsistence and repose."</p>
<p>That was her cue. She was a step behind Prissy and another prince, Johnathan. Prissy had glued on to the young Knight, while John went to the Archer. She looked between the remaining Knight and the Mage, then looked at Anna. 'Damn, we should have divided them up beforehand. Now the heroes must think us buffoons.'</p>
<p>Anna nodded at her, then made a beeline for the dark Knight. She stowed away her awkwardness and charged ahead with head held high and a forced smile. "Greetings Sir," she curtsied, "I'm princess Francisa Von Lohengramm, at your service. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"</p>
<p>The Mage hero looked at her with slight amusement in his eyes. He did not curtsy back, she noted.</p>
<p>"I'm Pat. Nice to meet ya. Guess you're stuck with me, eh?" he lightly jested.</p>
<p>Francisa straightened up, matching his gaze. She did not feel anything, good or bad. It mattered not though, she would do what was necessary. "Oh no. It is an honor, Sir... Pat. Please, follow me. I shall guide you to your room." And she stiffened her upper lip just as her mother taught her.</p>
<p>No matter what the Hero asked of her, she will brave it. She was a Princess of Clan Lohengramm. Such was her duty.</p>
Chapter 26 - Bootstrap2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2026%20-%20Bootstrap/<h2>Chapter 26 - Bootstrap</h2>
<p>As the teleportation light faded from my vision, I immediately turned back. Half expecting a horde of nutty monsters, I breathed a sigh of relief when instead of monsters, I was surrounded by opulent NPCs. If the tropes were to be believed, it would be one king or another begging us to go fight a demon lord or some such.</p>
<p>I noticed the glow dimming from the circle of Runes beneath my feet. I discreetly aimed an Identify at the whole motif. A window of "Summoning Circle" appeared.</p>
<p>'Interesting... Runes are individual constructs, and multiple Runes can be connected to form a "Circle". Not unlike using singular functions in the main program. I will have to individually check each Rune later, perhaps it can help me in teleporting back home.'</p>
<p>I left it at that, deciding to inspect the NPCs instead. 'Here I thought my robes were high class. Their clothes make ours look like low-end casual wear.' And their clothes suited their alluring faces. All the men were statuesque, and women bewitching. Honestly, I was starting to feel a bit envious.</p>
<p>I felt one of them looking at me fixedly. She was right behind the one who I assumed was in charge. She quickly averted her eyes, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. 'Cute. Considering these are NPCs, the level of details is approaching creepy! If I was back home, I would not have been able to distinguish them from real humans.'</p>
<p>Soon, the NPC in charge walked forward. I hoped he won't drone on - I had no MP, barely any SP, and around a third of HP remaining.</p>
<p>"Heroes, welcome!" 'Oh, so we are heroes from the get-go then? That saves some trouble.'</p>
<p>"I am Siegfried Von Lohengramm, head of clan Lohengramm and current leader of the Clan Council." 'Clan Council? Not a King or an Emperor?'</p>
<p>He stopped for a breath, perhaps hoping his words held significance to us. I had no clue though. None of my companions spoke either.</p>
<p>"Please, do not worry, everyone here is an ally. These are my peers and fellow members of the Council. Our representatives will lead you to your rooms to take care of subsistence and repose." 'Oh, done already? Good.'</p>
<p>Thankfully, the guy ended his speech quickly. I bet he took pity on us. 'I ain't complaining, food and rest sound like heaven right now!'</p>
<p>As soon as he said that, a young girl NPC from the side latched onto Taro. Another guy came and conversed with Julie. I noticed some hesitation from the remaining two women when the other ran to Divin. The one who stared at me earlier walked towards me with a bland face.</p>
<p>"Greetings sir," she said - bending down and picking up her flowing purple gown slightly, "I'm princess Francisa Von Lohengramm, at your service. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"</p>
<p>'Oh... A princess NPC?' I was a bit surprised. I assumed we were summoned by a cult, given the introduction by "clan head", but there was actually a princess here. 'Another thing to investigate, if time permits.' I directed a discreet Identify in her direction.</p>
<hr />
<h3>[???] Princess - Level ???</h3>
<hr />
<p>'What the shit? Oh damn, she is waiting for my reply.'</p>
<p>"I'm Pat. Nice to meet ya. Guess you're stuck with me, eh?" I joked, hoping to break the ice a bit. 'Just how high leveled is she?'</p>
<p>She let her gown go and took an unwavering posture, giving off a smile that didn't reach her eyes. 'This is not <em>approaching</em> creepy, it totally is. This NPC is giving me the stink-eye!'</p>
<p>"Oh no. It is an honor, sir... Pat. Please, follow me. I shall guide you to your room." she said coldly. 'Is this supposed to happen? Isn't the princess supposed to fawn over the heroes?'</p>
<p>I looked at our group. Taro was already being escorted off by the young girl... 'Princess', probably to his room. The rest, however, exchanged unspoken words with each glance. 'Looks safe, should follow the NPCs for now.'</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>'Ah, I had forgotten how good hot water feels against the skin! Especially when you are exhausted.'</p>
<p>Lazing about in the bath, I almost forgot that I was inside a simulation. The bath felt magical indeed, relieving the tension I did not know I held. As much as I would have liked to, however, I could not stay in there forever. Eventually, the water turned cold and I got out dripping the remnant drops on the marble floor. I wiped the moisture off and put on the loose clothes left by one of the maids. 'I wonder what's for dinner?' I hummed a merry tune as I got back into my room.</p>
<p>I slowly opened the door, then stopped right there, stunned for a moment at the sight. The princess NPC had changed clothes! Now wearing a silky black night-gown that barely reached her knees, she arranged the plates and laid some food for us both. My sight wandered over her body for quite a while, since she hadn't noticed me yet. Her attention was not on the task at hand, lost in her own world. I watched with silent mirth as a circus of emotions passed her beautiful face. A moment of apprehension, another of determination. A slight shame here, a bit of sadness there. Some excitement, some shyness. So much realism, that for a moment my mirth turned into pity. Her attire, behavior, sentiments - hell, her very presence left me in no doubt of her purpose here.</p>
<p>'Doesn't this part come later, typically at the end?'</p>
<p>And yet in the reversal of common lore, here stood this young woman, a few years younger than me. I did not know why she was doing this, but I was pretty sure she did not fall for me in the few minutes that we talked and walked. Whatever her circumstances were, I myself was a bit alarmed about the whole situation. It would've felt just right in a dream; in the real world (or as real as this simulation could get), I had other concerns. First, I had great reservations about such an obviously reluctant offer. Second, I doubted there was any protection method present. I did not want to catch anything nor leave anything behind. My decision made, I coughed lightly to bring her attention back from the clouds.</p>
<p>She looked up startled, almost dropping a dollop of porridge-like stuff on the table. 'Hmm... Even the reactions are exceptionally life-like. I wonder what manner of data-structures are driving these? There's surely an ML layer behind all this, perhaps even multiple pseudo-intelligent overseer AIs like Betty.'</p>
<p>I drove the thought of Betty out of my mind. 'This gorgeous NPC princess demands your focus right now!' I mentally reeled myself. I had to take care of how I interacted with them; for all I knew, my words and actions could also affect the main storyline like several other games from back home.</p>
<p>"Sir Pat, forgive my presumption. I was hoping to dine with you tonight if it so pleases you," she lay the spoon down and curtsied again. Given her awkward stance though, I realized it was more out of habit or nervousness than anything else. She flustered a bit, hands clutching air instead of non-existent skirts. I pretended at having not seen her dither, instead smiled and said, "Of course, it would be my honor to dine with you."</p>
<p>Saying so, I took my seat. I was pretty sure that I was being rude in some way. She gripped her length on her gown and pressed it downwards, hoping to cover her legs some more perhaps. Instead, the action emphasized another part, rather parts, of herself. Fiddly as can be, she dragged the chair back and sat herself down. 'Oh shoot, was I supposed to do that?'</p>
<p>I mentally kicked myself for missing that. My hunger soon brought my attention back to the plate though. Sure, I never starved in the Tutorial, but I had gone for a month without food. It had left a void in my heart. And stomach. The roasted chicken and mashed potatoes in butter were simply paradise. I left the supposed porridge aside - too sweet. Sips of wine instead? Just right.</p>
<p>We ate dinner in silence. I was indeed curious about many things, but it could wait. The food demanded and deserved my full attention. I did not know what the princess ate, or if she had at all, but she was done before I was. As I wiped my plate clean and gave a sigh of satisfaction with a rub over my tight belly, I felt sweet fatigue wash over me.</p>
<p>I excused myself from the table and went to wash off, assuming the maids would clean the table off later. Then immediately jumped into bed and dragged the covers on my prone form, ready to sleep the night away. 'The princess should get a clue with this.' It was damn cold, and that was okay. It felt right somehow, after enduring the same temperature daily for a month.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>My elation did not last for long. The maid did not come to clean up the table. Neither did the princess make herself scarce. No, she did the exact opposite. She slid herself under the covers.</p>
<p>I was flabbergasted. Never have I ever been in a situation where a pretty lady came on to me so strongly and I wanted nothing of it. Thankfully, she kept her hands to herself.</p>
<p>"S-Sir Pat, I..." she stuttered in a morose whisper. She jumped into my bed and <em>then</em> got cold feet? NPC or not, I was starting to feel sympathy for her. I opened my eyes and looked into her deep blue ones. So caught in her melancholic beauty was I that for a moment I forgot to breathe. Only for a moment though, as I spoke up:</p>
<p>"I'm sorry, princess. I've been fighting monsters practically non-stop for a whole month. Normally, you would see me act very differently, so don't take this as a fault on your part. I am simply burned out and want to sleep." I said, hoping my words were kind yet firm. I saw a mixture of relief and disappointment on her face, quickly hidden behind a mask of understanding. 'Girl, make up your mind already. You are making <em>me</em> feel indecisive, and I have already made my decision!'</p>
<p>"I understand. Please accept my apologies and forgive my forwardness!" she asserted, sliding out of the bed. "I shall come at sunrise tomorrow. I hope sir Pat has a restful night."</p>
<p>"Um... Yes. Goodnight." I felt a bit guilty about throwing her out. I wasn't kidding about the burn-out though, I was asleep within a minute after she was gone.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>I woke up just before dawn. The window was facing my bed, so the pre-dawn light made its way right onto my snoring face. I forcefully opened my eyes, as the sun peaked over the window-still, gathering my thoughts over the events of the previous day.</p>
<p>A light knock brought me out of my stupor. I removed the dirt from my eyes and sat up in bed. "Come on in!" I responded and in came the princess and a maid. The maid cleaned the tabled and left a jar of water there, moving on to draw a bath.</p>
<p>"Good morning, sir Pat!" the princess greeted. I could see her resolve remade, blue eyes bright like the sky outside was turning into. Even her dress was an odd mix of blue folds and pink frills. 'The nightgown suits her figure better,' I appraised thoughtfully.</p>
<p>"Morning, princess!" I greeted back. We tactfully skipped over last night's misadventures. "Here to have breakfast?" I asked.</p>
<p>"Yes, if sir Pat doesn't mind my company?" she said. I replied an affirmative and she signal another maid, who was presumably standing outside waiting for the order, to lay out the food.</p>
<p>I got out of the bed and drank deeply from the jar, making my way towards the washroom. Yes, with sleep and food, the other parts of my anatomy had kick-started as well. The mechanism itself was, from a distance at least, no different than a modern commode. Get close and you'd notice that it was actually a proper chair with a hole in the center. Closer still and you'd notice all the Runes decorating it inside and out. I Identified at least three different disinfection Circles.</p>
<p>Soon after finishing my business, I made my way to the bath after the earlier maid vacated, just in time to see a Rune fizzle out in the water. 'A temporary heat Rune? I've learned more about Runes in the last 24 hours than the entire previous month!' Cursing the futility of the Tutorial and not loitering long like last night, I quickly made my way towards breakfast, sitting in front of the beaming princess.</p>
<p>"I shall show sir Pat around the palace grounds after breakfast, then we shall attend to the throne room for lunch with the other heroes and clan heads," she laid out my agenda like it was natural, "if sir Pat obliges, I would like to give a small tour of the noble quarters in the evening as well." I wondered how the nights of the rest of my fellow test-subjects had been. 'Guess we'll talk at lunch directly.'</p>
<p>"Sounds like a plan. And, uh, call me Pat. Just Pat." I chuckled. Mixing "sir" with my nickname and coming out the mouth of a princess felt quite odd.</p>
<p>"If it pleases you si- Pat. I would appreciate it if you called me Francisa as well," she grinned back.</p>
<p>"Will do, Francisa. So, I was wondering, and do forgive me if I offend in some way, but you are a princess, right? Are there kings and queens as well? How do the clan and their head factor in the hierarchy?" I questioned after chewing a mouthful of fresh bread.</p>
<p>She looked up at me from her own loaf, collecting her thoughts. I could feel her getting ready for a lecture. "Our ancestors were actually the ones who were kings and queens. Clan Lohengramm had a kingdom once, back when my grandfather was but a child. Circumstances, however, forced us to gather here. All the families you met yesterday were of royal blood, but none of our kingdoms exist anymore. Nor do we have space or resources to form any on this continent. Hence, we formed a new way of governance. Royal families became clans, and we rule this part of the human lands with the Clan Council, a congregation of former royals. Being called princess is just a vestige of lost time."</p>
<p>I wonder what these "circumstances" actually were. I was torn between my brain insisting that these "people" weren't truly real and my heart tugging at the extremely vivid depiction of sadness that veiled this pretty girl's face. I slapped myself mentally - 'the princess was monologuing her clan's story and current affairs, I should be paying attention.' I was hanging on to her every word, unwilling to miss even the slightest detail.</p>
<p>And so our breakfast continued, merrily discussing seemingly trite matters, the dark memories of last night's incident long forgotten.</p>
Chapter 27 - Lay of Land2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2027%20-%20Lay%20of%20Land/<h2>Chapter 27 - Lay of Land</h2>
<p>Breakfast was normal. Strips of crisp bacon, a couple of eggs, some brown bread, and another sweet drink.</p>
<p>Feeling my trouser tighten a bit around my waist, I called it quits. The princess did eat, after all, but in small bits held in dainty hands with quick moves that were quite hard to notice. When you did notice it, there was an indisputable grace to the motion; having the effect of making me feel like a brute. Not that she mentioned it.</p>
<p>After the hearty breakfast, she led me to the gardens on the backside of the Palace. Well, calling them gardens was a bit of an understatement - they felt more like a landscape artist decided to go crazy with experimentation.</p>
<p>The "front" gardens were supposedly large areas meant for social gatherings and perhaps showing off. The "back" gardens, where I was currently examining what looked like a pink daffodil, were for private conversations and relaxing.</p>
<p>Sitting under the shade of an awning and nursing another sweet drink in her hand, the princess was currently expanding my knowledge on local geography.</p>
<p>"... And so, this is both a frontier and last line of defense for humanity. My great-grandfather - honored King Alexander Von Lohengramm, noticed the signs of creeping calamity long before other nations. Thus, he began the colonization of this continent of Alteraz. Eventually, the kingdom could not hold out any longer, so he sent my grandfather, then merely 19 years of age, to continue the line here while he himself stayed back. Many nobles of our kingdom followed his example, sending their sons and daughters along with my grandfather to the new lands," she took a sip before continuing, "of course, there was the prophecy as well, it pointed to a dungeon here. Alteraz is where the Heroes shall defeat the calamity and the world will be safe once again!"</p>
<p>'Did she just casually mention a dungeon?' Before I could interrupt, she pushed on. When it comes to talking about her family history, she just kept going on and on.</p>
<p>"And so, my grandfather formed an alliance with four other clans. They weren't more than bridgeheads back then, but now the former alliance rules as the five major clans. The clan system was actually formalized by my father himself! And my big brother was-" her breath hitched. I remember her mentioning her little brother, this was the first time I heard about a big brother. I gave her a moment, as she hesitated. She spoke in a small voice, "Big brother was supposed to be the first official overseer."</p>
<p>Her fingers trembled slightly. Moisture clouded her eyes. 'Why is this cut scene making my heart squidge?'</p>
<p>After a practiced deep breath, a mournful smile decorated her features. "He was last seen on the other side of the High Passes," she spoke in a low voice. After a minute of silence, she pronounced, "Oh! Look at me, rambling on. The Sun is almost past the zenith, perhaps we should head inside for the luncheon?"</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>In the several hours since breakfast till noon, I got a crash course on the surrounding terrain, historical intrigues, and the current political situation of this continent named Alteraz.</p>
<p>This continent was also supposedly the only inhabitable one left. Others were taken over by the calamity. I was still unclear on exactly what it was.</p>
<p>So, the disaster started off on the other side of the planet, slowly covering a larger area with time. All the sapient species, at least those that could traverse the oceans, sailed ahead of it. Eventually ending up gathering here. Even I could imagine the chaos this would imply.</p>
<p>The native inhabitants of this region - the eastern part of the continent, were goblins and beast tribes of diverse species. Goblins had been wiped out a few years before Francisa was born. By the time she celebrated her tenth birthday, a majority of the beast tribes had been subjugated. The annexation of Centaur lands was currently underway. There was also an incursion of faeries back when humans initially marched in when they overran the southern forests, but not much is known about their whereabouts now.</p>
<p>The central area was littered with high mountains. An entire mountain range split the continent in two. I imagined this was probably due to there being two different continents that collied into one. Not unlike the Himalayas when India bumped into Asia.</p>
<p>In any case, the highest mountains graced the northernmost parts and were occupied by, unsurprisingly, the Dragons. There were large sub-terrain worms that dug in a little south. The central area was taken in by Dwarves. Well, the central area deep inside the mountains at least, perhaps even below sea level. Further south were the caves of Drows. There was a large forested area to the south that covered a better part of the mountains and flowed on either side of it.</p>
<p>Also somewhere high up in the mountains, near the Dwarven territory, were the "high passes" that humans held. This place was a window to the other side of the continent. On the other side, there were reports of Elven constructs and Orcish hordes. Not much was known beyond that.</p>
<p>Of course, these were only some of the major players on the continent. "Civilized" people, so to speak. Innumerable creatures roamed the vast "uncivilized" areas that were being quickly engulfed by the former. I learned that the mammoths, crocs, and squid-face went extinct hundreds of years ago. Panthers still resided in the south. About the rest of the creatures, they were either common or unknown. Quite a dichotomy.</p>
<p>An optimistic estimate was that humans currently reigned supreme in the eastern region - bar the "uncivilized" regions as it were.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Closer to home, there were about thirteen clans spread out all over the human-occupied lands ranging from the eastern coast to central mountains. Five were considered as major clans, the ones from the original invasion alliance. They were also closer to the center. Apparently, I was one clan's area away from the mountains - one could see them if they go to the front gardens. The rest were under the oversight of these five clans in one way or another.</p>
<p>This was a very new system of governance, not even two generations old. And so there were the typical ones who wanted to rise above others, others who sought to pull the former down. There were even such forces among the major clans. Francisa all but mentioned that her brother was a victim to these political plays and not the minacious posting at the border.</p>
<p>All that was about the nobles. The commoners, instead, played a different game. Needless to say, petty criminals were commonplace. Serious crimes were widespread as well. But these things were par for the course. What concerned Francisa the most, and by that I mean her father - I doubt she was viewing the situation from her own perspective, was the new church of convulsion. This church believed that the ongoing cataclysm was a sign from the gods. Their gospel was that humans should fight the monster hordes that heralded the disaster, allying instead of conquering other sapient species. The more radical members of the church were convinced that the world was going to end because the humans had strayed from the righteous path and this was their just reward. It was funny how even NPC humans were inclined to consider themselves the center of everything - even a catastrophe. The problem arose, however, when one of their core beliefs was that heroes were against the natural order of things, the belief that had led to numerous troubles so far. Indeed, hearing about their exploits made me re-imagine them more as an assassin's guild than a godly church.</p>
<p>Such was the situation where I was summoned into - war on all fronts, people tearing each other's throats out, and an inevitable doom closing in on us. This world was fucked to hell and back!</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>I arrived at the summoning hall following Francisa, which was being doubled as a throne room and dining hall. 'Shit, they scrubbed the Summoning Runes!'</p>
<p>I nodded at the NPCs and smiled at my companions, of whom everyone but Taro was already present. Julie sent a weary smile back. Carol seemed amused by something. Divin nodded back without a smile. Arya was fuming. I took a seat amidst them, all of us seating on one side of the table. Francisa took the seat facing me on the other side. Apparently, each of the representatives had taken a seat in front of their partners.</p>
<p>The prince NPCs ahead of Carol and Arya sat in a rigid posture, staring at the table with expressionless eyes and stony faces. The one in front of Julie instead had a natural serious expression one would expect as such an occasion. The princess with Divin sat with a finger on her chin, eyes far away in thought.</p>
<p>I sat beside Carol, who immediately leaned over and whispered, "Didja, ya know...?" and glanced at Francisa.</p>
<p>"Naw... I'm not that short-sighted you know." I retorted. She raised her hands in mock apology, saying something about men and their thinking equipment.</p>
<p>It was at that moment that Taro strolled in. With the remaining princess in tow. Clinging on to each other like newlyweds. 'Damn it, they got him. Hook, line and sinker!'</p>
<p>Carol flashed a victorious smirk at me. I scowled back, 'His actions have no bearing on the reasoning of all men.' Her smug expression persisted, however.</p>
<p>Lunch was a somber affair. Besides the tasty food of course. Earlier, Francisa bemoaned never having had a full royal course that her grandfather boasted of. Food was scarce here. Yet tasteful enough for my palate. No, the somberness came from the NPCs! Especially the representatives. From the look of things, only the youngest princess had succeeded in their shared mission.</p>
<p>"Ahm..." the clan head stood up and cleared his throat. 'Man, at least let me enjoy my dessert first!' Uncaring of my mental protests, he continued - "Again, I would like to welcome you all. I hope our hospitality wasn't too lacking." He looked over us, pausing slightly longer on the taut princes. "As you all must have surmised, our world is currently facing a great tribulation, one which we yearn to repatriate with your fortunate aid. The Council proposed to have one clan take in one hero each to prepare you for the preordained animus." 'Does this guy walk around with a hidden dictionary or something?' "And yet, some unforeseen events have caused us to reassess our adjudication." 'Hmm? <em>What</em> is this about?' "As such, Sir Pat, Lady Arya, and Lady Carol shall continue to dwell in our royal quarters. Sir Divin, Lady Julie, and Sir Taro have preferred to follow their representatives to respective clans for further tutelage." '<em>Whaaaa...?</em> When did these guys decide everything?' Julie shot me an apologetic glance. Divin was stoic as usual. Taro was... Best not spoken about right now.</p>
<p>I barely had a chance to process this news. The leader, however, steamrolled onward. "Nevertheless, fret not over what may come. For today is a day of convalescence. The three departing heroes shall leave tomorrow afternoon, but not before a grand parade to reassure the populace!" He beamed at us; was he expecting excited "whoo" perhaps? All he got in return were affirmative grunts from Divin and Julie. I was stumped still - 'We are disbanding our party? Is it temporary then, just for training? What <em>does</em> he mean by training though?' A thousand thoughts whirled in my head, the cold dessert in front of me left untouched.</p>
Chapter 28 - A Hero's Welcome (1)2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2028%20-%20A%20Hero's%20Welcome%20(1)/<h2>Chapter 28 - A Hero's Welcome (1)</h2>
<p>"So you're leaving then?" (Me, to Julie)</p>
<p>"Yes. Johnathan told me about his clan - they are sort of experts in the outdoorsy things. Training at their place would prove beneficial to me as an Archer." (Julie explained)</p>
<p>"What about their plans for us later?" (Divin questioned)</p>
<p>"What are you talking about?" (Taro, doubtful)</p>
<p>"I talked with my representative, Anna. I got the feeling that once this calamity is over, these clans intend to retake their homelands. And they want us by their side. Having a hero to reclaim their lands will give any clan quite an edge over others." (Divin)</p>
<p>'Oh, so that was why...' (Me, connecting the dots)</p>
<p>"I don't know. It's too far off in the future." (Julie, now turning to Carol) "Carol, you should rethink your plan and join me for training."</p>
<p>"Nae, I told ye before. I'll be fine 'ere with Pat and Arya." (Carol)</p>
<p>"I'm afraid I am out of the loop. Why are we suddenly splitting up for training?" (Me, glancing about)</p>
<p>"Well, it's no surprise you don't know about the split. They presumed you would stay here in the first place. Anyhow, your princess should have explained the training part at least - see, our attributes increase not only by level-ups but also by exercising our skills. And these skills are a double-edged sword, for that matter. Like my True Shot skill - it doesn't matter if I can shoot a homing arrow if I misjudge the distance from my target; or worse, simply freeze during combat. This stuff needs getting used to, hence the training." (Julie)</p>
<p>"I see. No, she probably missed it. And she's not <em>my</em> princess. We just talked about geography and current affairs the most, with bits of history and politics." (Me, frowning) 'And near entirety of Lohengramm family past.'</p>
<p>"Seems our next Class Upgrade will be somewhat special." (Divin, changing topics)</p>
<p>"Oh, how so?" (Taro, distracted)</p>
<p>"I'm not sure. They will tell us before starting our training, I suppose. Does anyone else have any info?" (Divin, looking around)</p>
<p>"Nah, I don't think so. By the way, what's up with you Arya? Been quiet a lot." (Me, glancing at Arya, noticing sympathetic looks from Julie and Carol)</p>
<p>"Um, sorry was just lost in thought." (Arya)</p>
<p>"'Twas that goon prince, bloody minger." (Carol, bursting out) "He was quite insistent with Arya last night. I saw 'em scurry off after lunch."</p>
<p>"What happened?" (Divin, severely)</p>
<p>"Nothing happened! It wasn't as bad as Carol made it sound." (Arya)</p>
<p>'Ah, I guess the courting manners of medieval princes do not suit the sensibilities of modern women. Heh.'</p>
<p>The conversation died down after that. Taro was fiddling with something in his hands. His grin from earlier today returned full force.</p>
<p>"A-Ano... I've got this... Thing. Yeah. S-So, I'll see ya later." (Taro, almost jogging off)</p>
<p>No prize for guessing his destination. The rest looked on with complicated expressions. 'Let him have his fun, he'll be alright. Hopefully.'</p>
<p>"So, what happens when this simulation is over?" (Arya)</p>
<p>"What do you mean?" (Divin)</p>
<p>"I mean... Will we be spending the rest of our lives here? Or will it end at some definite point? Will we be back as we were before, or will the time we spend here will be gone forever? All I know is that time here goes faster than Earth. What do you think Pat?" (Arya)</p>
<p>"Well, the test <em>has</em> to end at some point, else there won't be any point of it. And I think it will end after we defeat this world-ending threat. Also, even if we grow gray-haired by that point, we should still end up back home as we were when we first entered." (Me)</p>
<p>"How did you come to these conclusions?" (Divin, with the rest listening in rapt attention)</p>
<p>"Hmm, this whole setup feels like an RPG video game campaign to me. And games end when you defeat the final boss. As for our time spent here, I think we aren't actually here physically. Simply because the Simulation itself is virtual. We are something like game characters or avatars, just based on our exact physical appearances. That is a guess though." (Me)</p>
<p>'At least I hope so. We could just as well be copies of our original consciousness to be discarded after the test is finished.'</p>
<p>"Do you think we will remember all this?" (Julie, after considering my words)</p>
<p>"I can't say for sure but, when a test ends, you revert the system to its original state. All the effects are temporary. And given what we've been through, I don't think memory alteration is a big deal to these guys. So, yeah..." (Me)</p>
<p>'Time dilation and memory modification - the perfect recipe for conducting tests on unsuspecting subjects. I bet they've been at this for a considerable time, who knows how many hapless poor sods were experimented upon beside us?'</p>
<p>"So, them new special effects? They're quite swick eh? And these people, are they real or what?" (Carol)</p>
<p>'What? I have not opened my status since coming here. Need to check up on a lot of things.'</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Our after-lunch soirée lasted for a while. It was just us "heroes" gathered in the back gardens. Sans Taro.</p>
<p>The NPCs planned to have one hero attach to one clan. That clan would take responsibility for training the hero. All five major clans were in, of course. The sixth clan, where Julie was headed, was admitted out of necessity. Either way, not one day in and we'd already upended the storyline.</p>
<p>Arya decided to stay at the palace. Carol opted to stay with her as well. Neither had warmed up to their prince. The girls had decided this together last night sometime. Divin presumed everyone was splitting up so he planned to go out as well. After hearing that he could've refused, he made a sour face for a while. As for the former two, Arya was getting help from the Lohengramm clan like myself. She had refused all support from the assigned representative clan. Carol instead was having her "tutor" coming over. As for me? I would have to check things out with Francisa later.</p>
<p>Regarding our Classes, while we <em>were</em> at the baseline, it was merely the lowest standard required to get official jobs out here. People started their leveling as young as 6 years old. By the time they grew up to 15 years, they comfortably reached level 20. A human was considered an adult at that point. Some leveled up earlier, some later but most reach the threshold by their late-teens.</p>
<p>The fun began beyond this milestone. People take up jobs befitting their Class, usually under a mentor. What they do with their mastery of Base Classes ends up affecting the next Class Upgrade. A Craftsman who takes up farming gets a Farmer Class. A Healer who joins the clergy and starts preaching gets a priest-like Class. And there is no limit on the variety of Classes one could achieve depending on the jobs they take. Assuming they are in their evolutionary tree, of course. A Scout would end up as a very poor stable-boy if he even gets that Class. As far as Julie knew, and she was the one who knew the most in this area, the Craftsman Class had the most known branches and the Mage class had the least.</p>
<p>We continued sharing the knowledge we had gleaned from our NPC counterparts. I expounded on the war with Centaurs and the situation in high passes. Divin was more concerned about what the NPCs expected of us, cautioning against making ill-advised agreements and taking thoughtless actions. He feared altering the storyline too much; we might cut ourselves off from achieving the end goal.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>The shadows lengthened as the sky turned orange. For a while, I imagined myself back in the Tutorial. A flash of light burst from the side. 'Betty?' All of us immediately glanced at the spherical source.</p>
<p>Similar bursts happened at regular distances all across the garden. "Magical Lights," Divin explained quietly.</p>
<p>I calmed myself. 'Getting worked up over nothing.' Besides, it was quite late. I remembered Princess had some plans for the eve.</p>
<p>Eventually, we broke off, planning to meet again the next day to discuss and work out future arrangements. I arrived at my room, not surprised to see Francisa already waiting, with a badly-concealed pout.</p>
<p>"Greetings, <em>Sir</em> Pat." 'Ah. Here we go.'</p>
<p>"Hello there Francisa. Sorry, I'm a bit late; our meeting went off the rails there a bit." 'That should do it?'</p>
<p>"I understand. Do forgive me though, the tea has gone cold. The cakes are still edible however." She declared, proffering the sweets on the table. "I had offered to acquaint a few of my friends to Sir Pat. Shall we move it to tomorrow evening?"</p>
<p>"Of course. I'll be happy to meet your friends." 'No need to antagonize a friendly NPC.' I took a piece of the spongy cake with a fork and placed it in my mouth, sitting down in front of her. "The cake's nice!" I idly commented.</p>
<p>"I'm sure Anna would've appreciated your words. She'll be departing tomorrow with Sir Divin, however. Though, Hamilton will be glad to convene." She mused.</p>
<p>"Hmm... So Francisa, about the dungeon you mentioned..." I shot off one question after another, which she answered promptly and precisely. Francisa was quite the conversationalist once you got her going. Her formality dropped to yesterday's favorable milieu as our discussion continued. We talked at length about prophecies, monsters, magic, and of all things, civil duty and filial responsibilities, among other topics fantastical and mundane.</p>
<p>Soon, the Sun dipped below the horizon. I failed to notice it last night, but now I realized that instead of candles, the maids had placed magical sticks in the corner. It had Runes! Along with the magical candle came the night's dinner, again in the company of the princess. And again I stuffed myself, just slightly lesser than yesterday. I was never a voracious eater either way. Francisa bid her goodnight, thankfully bereft of any irritation over my tardiness. I still sat in the chair going through my quest list.</p>
<hr />
<ul>
<li>
<p>Main Quest</p>
<ul>
<li>Escape simulation
<ul>
<li><s>Complete tutorial</s></li>
<li>Find Exit. Related to a dungeon somehow.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>Side Quests</p>
<ul>
<li>Create a new rune</li>
<li>Extract core password</li>
<li>Save the world?</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>I glanced at the ring and wand I had kept from the tutorial, set beside the thoroughly cleaned and neatly folded robe.</p>
<p>'I wonder if there is another exit portal in the dungeon, like it was in the Tutorial? The storyline revolves around it a fair bit. Perhaps after we clear the levels, we can access it? How is it connected to this calamity though?'</p>
<p>I finally had some information on what the calamity was. Seemingly no one here had seen it, at least no one alive. The last person to have seen it and migrated to Alteraz died a few years ago. There was no shortage of stories, however. Common among them all were monsters - hordes upon hordes of unending waves of monsters. And that was just the beginning. The monsters in this world differed from normal creatures only by their vicious and bloodthirsty nature. "Normal" creatures were terrifying in their own right but usually got aggressive only for food, territory, or mate. As for monsters, aggressive was their default setting. 'Perhaps it is in their special effects?'</p>
<p>'Speaking of special effects, Divin mentioned some changes in Status. Let's see...' I got up from the chair and lay comfortably on the bed. Swiping a finger up brought my new stats up</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Master] Mage - Level 20</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Status</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Health</td>
<td>873/873</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mana</td>
<td>2762/2762</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stamina</td>
<td>81/81</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Experience</td>
<td>0/2100</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Attributes</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Strength</td>
<td>21</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vitality</td>
<td>21</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility</td>
<td>21</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dexterity</td>
<td>22</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence</td>
<td>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Perception</td>
<td>30</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdom</td>
<td>26</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Special Effects:</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Magic Boost - You get extra Intelligence, Perception, and/or Wisdom points on every Class Upgrade.</li>
<li>Hero's Boost - You get 100-300% extra experience.</li>
<li>Test Subject Perk - Unlock special areas.</li>
<li>Other Worlder Perk - Immune to perpetual illusions and mind control Spells.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Woah! What is with these special effects? Huh... Mind control is a thing? Damn. Glad I'm immune.'</p>
<p>I was a bit disheartened that all the monsters I killed in level 20 gave me no experience at all. Still, my mood lightened with the new special effects.</p>
<p>'Francisa mentioned I'll be meeting the Royal Mages who drew the Circle tomorrow. Wonder what's in store? Not looking forward to the "parade" though. Ugh. Anyway, gonna get back in the grove come morn. So much to discover!'</p>
<p>I smiled. In a way, I was glad to be here. 'Magic and code being the same is awesome!'</p>
<p>And so I slept fitfully, dreaming of Runes of flight and confetti.</p>
Chapter 29 - A Hero's Welcome (2)2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2029%20-%20A%20Hero's%20Welcome%20(2)/<h2>Chapter 29 - A Hero's Welcome (2)</h2>
<p>The usual glare of the dawning sun woke me from my slumber. It was getting old fast. 'Just five more minutes please!'</p>
<p>It was not to be. I faced the other side in protest, yet hardly a wink passed and I heard a knock.</p>
<p>I hate waking up from deep sleep. Half the time, I get mild headaches when it happens. As if my body itself is naturally resistant to waking up early. Today was not one of those days, thankfully. I did not want to be annoying first thing in the morning at Francisa. Still, I wasn't in the best of moods.</p>
<p>"Come on in!" I grunted. It wasn't Francisa who greeted me, however. Just the maid, who curtsied and nonchalantly deposited a jar of water on the table and went to draw the bath.</p>
<p>I did the necessities, coming out of the bath a while later with my Tutorial robe on, my mood markedly improved. The breakfast was laid on the table, with a beaming princess on the side.</p>
<p>"Today is a fine day, isn't it Sir Pat?" she uttered, caressing out non-existent wrinkles on her expensive purple-hued dress. This was the same variant of the one she wore when we first met. An "important event" NPC costume, I figured.</p>
<p>"Yep. You're looking quite nice in the dress." I casually complimented and sat down. "And please Francisa, just call me Pat." A maid hovered by to drop dollops of orangish stuff into my plate. And some bread. These guys loved their bread.</p>
<p>"T-thanks, Sir Pat. I mean, Pat." She blushed a little. 'Cute.' "Ah, my apologies. It would get some getting used to. Please try the bhuna pumpkin sauce, it's a specialty where we come from. Or rather, used to be." She tapered into silence at the end but perked up again by proclaiming my tasks for today. "Today we'll be going around the Noble quarters and the town square in commoner's district in the ceremonial chaises. Hero and their representatives in each one. Hopefully, we'll be back by lunch, where we will meet Hamilton, my dear friend. The evening will be taken up for your discourse with the Royal Mages. They shall lay out your tutelage for the coming weeks. I shall attend to you whenever I can, of course."</p>
<p>I just nodded, quietly savoring the bitter-sweet taste of the orange sauce, a bit overwhelmed by the extreme emotional swings of this NPC. The only thing missing in my opinion was a steaming cup of joe. I didn't even mind having the bread again, soft and freshly baked out of the oven. The day was getting better with the minute.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>We gathered into the main hall - the one that had served as a throne room, a dining hall, and a summoning room so far.</p>
<p>'This is it!' Today, I was actually venturing out beyond the safe zone. A whole new world and all I'd seen were a couple of rooms and a backyard. Sure, being gawked at by the masses sucked the fun out a bit, but I was excited to step out nonetheless. 'What sort of wonders shall I see today?'</p>
<p>Each "hero" - 'Heh.' I still chuckled at that - was standing beside their representative and a couple of Royal Guards. The guards did not have shining armor or magic swords. Instead, they carried spears and round shields like aspis, reminding me of Spartan Hoplites. They did look stone-cold deadly.</p>
<p>Divin and Anna were having a whispered conversation. Not romantic. No. More like mafiosos discussing an underground business deal. Taro, still stupidly grinning but with bags under his eyes, had the other princess clutching his arm like a vise. 'What had Francisa called her? Prissy?'</p>
<p>Carol still had her representative beside her, but the wide distance between them left no one in doubt about their relationship. Arya was with a little kid that had the same sky blue eyes and dirty blond hair as Francisa. 'Her little brother?'</p>
<p>Julie was having an animated conversation with Johnathan. 'The guy could do to loosen up a bit.' And finally, little old me with my - err, not actually mine - princess, who was going on about the importance of soon-to-be-held "parade" in calming the people down. I nodded and hummed where necessary, but the words filtered in one ear and went right out the other.</p>
<p>We weren't standing close enough to speak with each other, so I simply smiled and mouthed a "hey" when our eyes met. Divin gave a barely perceptible nod. Taro half-waved with his free hand. Carol smiled and returned an energetic wave. 'She is probably the most excited of us all about this.' Arya was staring at the still-chatting princess by my side, missing my signal entirely. Julie gave a firm nod back. We had planned to meet today sometime, but never decided on the time. 'Perhaps after lunch?'</p>
<p>My thoughts were interrupted by another cutscene. The main clan leader NPC stood up and began another speech of gratitude and co-operation with suitably pompous words. With that, we stepped out the large doors of the hall out into the sunlight.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Another garden. For a while, I had forgotten about the front gardens. These were spread over a wide area, however, and a majority of that area was taken by nicely trimmed grass. Sporadically planted were some sort of short trees with white trunks and round tops. My attention was snatched up by the small open-topped carriages - carriages whose decorations had decorations. I was loath to even be seen near such gaudy creations, but I suppose it was too late to present my suggestions.</p>
<p>We went ahead and climbed upon the aberrations. Not forgetting my chivalry this time around, I extended a hand to Francisa. NPC or not, her surprise and the eventual flush was worth the effort. I did let go of the hand after she climbed up though. 'Was she trying to hold on?' Perhaps it was just my imagination.</p>
<p>The chariots began with a start. The horse bound on mine was a black shiny thing, brushed to high heavens. The lead carriage had the clan leader and his wife. Us test subjects followed. In the rear was another chariot with a Royal Mage and an Archer on board.</p>
<p>Our procession went through the gardens and out onto a dirt road. It was pressed flat and had a smooth asphalt-like surface though, probably done so using magic. The road widened out as we went further when we finally came across something resembling a city.</p>
<p>Apparently, the palace was at the center of this city. It was surrounded by the Noble quarters on all sides. The Noble quarters, as it turned out, was a bunch of spaced-out buildings that looked like they were made of granite. A closer look revealed everything to be made of some dark smooth stone. Tuning in to radio-Francisa revealed why.</p>
<p>"...And so they had to build everything up in a hurry at first. Never knew when the goblins would attack. But later on, we employed Stone Masons, Earth Mages, High Enchanters, and so on to construct solid buildings out of compressed stone blocks and enchanted binding agents. The plan was to convert the whole city, but resources dwindled out soon enough..."</p>
<p>'Yes, just when the people with deep pockets had their homes sorted out, the resources "dwindled"!' I almost snorted.</p>
<p>Francisa stopped talking then, as we sighted a bunch of NPCs hanging out in their balconies, wearing their "important event" costumes and waving bright colorful clothes at us. The procession stopped here for a bit, some heavy words filtering back from the front-most carriage. A bit of cheering followed and we moved on. I saw a little boy waving a green cloth with all his might, screaming something unintelligible at me. My lips curled up on their own and my hand followed. I waved. Francisa smirked. 'Oh no!'</p>
<p>From then on, I had to wave at every bloody Tom, Dick, and Harry. 'You brought this on yourself. Now, you gotta suck it up and just smile & wave boy!'</p>
<p>We circled around the quarters, stopping every now and then. Soon, we left the magically constructed road and went on an actual dirt road. One with a generous helping of potholes and crevices. Thankfully, the carriages had pretty good suspension. I had a sneaking feeling that some magic was involved. More Runes, perhaps. I couldn't peek under the plentiful decorative coverings, however. 'I guess they are meant to hide as much as attract. Clever.'</p>
<p>Expansive stone houses gave way to shoddy wooden constructs. Eventually, we happened upon a clearing where many an enterprising merchant laid their wares. The NPC crowd here was not wearing their "important event" dresses. I wondered if they even owned any. Many looked on in surprise and wariness as the guards cleared some space near the center. The leader spoke some words up ahead and there was some slight cheering. Then we were asked to alight our carriages and gather around.</p>
<p>"Dear heroes!" NPC pseudo-king announced, "This is where we must part ways." 'Um... What?'</p>
<p>"Sir Divin, Sir Taro, Lady Julie. Representative clan carriages await your presence at the edge of this town, just a bit further. Bereave not your parting, for we shall foregather soon enough!" 'Goddamn it! Stupid fucking storyline.'</p>
<p>I was grouchy. I wanted to plan ahead. To make sure we exchanged information regularly. Hell, even devise a <em>means</em> to exchange said information and generally keep in touch. I didn't know if I could exit on my own.</p>
<p>"Guess this is it, huh? Wish we had discussed stuff some more." Julie said. "We will meet again as soon as we reach the required level to go out on our own," Divin commented. "Yeah. Time will fly away, you'll see." Taro chipped in.</p>
<p>We said our goodbyes and swore to meet up again. Their carriages went ahead. We turned around, heading in the opposite direction - back the way we came. Francisa stayed quiet the whole way. Perhaps she sensed my crummy mood.</p>
<p>While I had known these guys for less than a month, we had come from the same place and overcame our trials together. I was slightly bitter at the separation, however temporary or necessary it was supposed to be. Maybe I had come to depend on them a little, or even feel a bit comfortable knowing they were around. 'I guess I should be happy that at least Carol and Arya are around.'</p>
<p>We made our trip back in silence, followed the same route back. The same people cheered for us again, with equal enthusiasm. Without stooping, we converged on the palace soon enough. Francisa promised to drop by during lunch and hopped off. Inside the hall, I talked with Arya and Carol, planning to meet again after lunch and get our headings. I went into my room and plopped into the bed. Even just smiling and waving can get mighty tiring.</p>
Chapter 30 - A Hero's Welcome (3)2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2030%20-%20A%20Hero's%20Welcome%20(3)/<h2>Chapter 30 - A Hero's Welcome (3)</h2>
<p>"Sir Pat...SIR PAT...!" A faint but persistent voice assaulted my senses. "Um... Five more min-"</p>
<p>A gentle hand caressed my shoulder and THAT jolted me awake. I wasn't used to such mellow wake-up calls - the alarm on my phone blaring out being the usual deal.</p>
<p>I opened a bleary eye and noticed Francisa, in yet another costume. Greenish, less ceremonial, and far too frilly for my tastes.</p>
<p>"Have you rested well? Do forgive me, but it <em>is</em> time for the luncheon, Sir Pat." She spoke softly.</p>
<p>'Damn, when did I fall asleep?' I sat up. 'Ah, she was bringing a friend along. Almost forgot with all that went down in the morning.'</p>
<p>"Yeah, I did. Must've been more tired than expected. No need to apologize." I smiled at Francisa.</p>
<p>"I understand, Pat. All that waving around must've been exhausting indeed." She smirked. 'Was she always this sassy?'</p>
<p>I snorted and went to wash my face. She called for a maid, who immediately rolled in a trolley of delicious smelling food and started laying out plates on the table.</p>
<p>"Today might be your last day of leisure Pat," Francisa called out as soon as I stepped back into the room. "After all, you will start training from tomorrow. Though it should be more of a lecture than an exercise in your case."</p>
<p>"Right." 'Guess my stamina won't be impressing anyone soon' "When is your friend coming over?"</p>
<p>"Oh, he's already in the palace. Right now he is greeting my lord father. Should be here presently." She was absentmindedly caressing one of her frills watching the maid finish up her work.</p>
<p>'I wonder how this new NPC will be like. Heh. I never thought I would say this but these characters are a bit too realistic. What was his name again?'</p>
<p>Just as the maid retreated into her corner, there was a knock on the door. 'Speak of the devil!'</p>
<p>"Enter." Francisa intoned. A tall man with a broad physique and a sunny smile pushed the door open. He carried himself with a lazy grace on heavy footsteps. Dark brown hair that ended in curls sat neatly on his head. And his light brown eyes danced with easy mirth. They lit up on seeing Francisa, who had walked ahead to meet him. They hugged each other lightly and then he stood beside her staring at the crimson patterns on my robe.</p>
<p>"Ahem. Sir Pat, this is my dear friend. Shield-Knight Hamilton." Francisa introduced him, then turned to him with a respectful gesture in my direction. "And gracing us for lunch today with his presence is the Hero-Mage Sir Pat."</p>
<p>"It is an honor, Sir Pat." His eyes turned somber and then he gave a deep bow that, despite his bulky frame, was balletic.</p>
<p>I nodded. 'Damn it this is awkward. Do I have to bow as well? Nah, I'll only end up making a fool of myself.' "It's nice to meet you as well, Hamilton." 'I don't think I'll forget his name again, now that I heard it clearly.'</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Hamilton was the most chill NPC I had encountered so far.</p>
<p>Once we got over the initial meeting ice-breakers, we had a lovely lunch. The food was awesome as usual. Hamilton soon loosened himself, starting to lightly tease Francisa. I joined in as well later, adding a few jabs of my own, leaving her red in the face.</p>
<p>He was easy to talk to. He never once said any words that had me wishing for a dictionary like NPC clan head. Nor did he ramble on and on like Francisa tended to do oftentimes. A jape here, an anecdote there, the guy was overall quite convivial. Even Francisa was enjoying herself.</p>
<p>Soon though, the lunch was over. We said our goodbyes. Hamilton offered to show me around the Knight training ground when time allowed. "I shall escort Hamilton outside. Please take some time to yourself, Pat. I shall arrive in the early evening for our assembly with the Royal Mages." Francisa said and strutted off, leaving the maid with the cleanup duty.</p>
<p>This was the same NPC who had been attending my room for the last couple of days. Average face, slightly tanned skin, dark hair tied in a loose bun. "Hey, need a hand?" I offered.</p>
<p>She seized up, jerking her face upward and looking at me with wide eyes. "N-No Sire, please. I-I got this." She stuttered.</p>
<p>"Um... Okay then. I'm gonna get some rest-" 'No, have to meet with Arya and Carol.' "Actually, I'm gonna head out for a bit. Thanks for cleaning up." I beamed and headed off. I was in a good mood as well.</p>
<p>The good mood did not last long. The shade in the garden did little to ward against the heat rolling off in waves from the blazing afternoon sun. Even examining the light Rune on magic lamps got dull in a while. After thirty more minutes of waiting, the sweat had formed a full layer between my skin and the robe. I felt myself losing SP just sitting there. 'Where the hell are they?'</p>
<p>I wish I had my phone with me. I would've called them ten times by now. Eventually, I gave up and trudged back to my room. Thankfully, it was somewhat cooler inside. 'I'll look for them later.' My legs found their way towards the bed, and for the second time that day, sweet slumber stole me like a master thief.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>The sun had gone down considerably when I woke up next. I sat up on the bed, contemplating the lengthening shadows.</p>
<p>For a moment, I wondered what my folks were up to again. 'Probably sleeping. And will keep sleeping while you waste time here.' I had no "better half" to worry about, haven't had since recently. 'Man, don't think about her again.' I mentally chastised then consoled myself. 'You have literal princesses jumping into your bed now!'. Then I chuckled, imagining what some of my friends from back home would've done in my situation. 'Home, eh?'</p>
<p>I had assumed I'd find some way to exit soon after leaving the tutorial. Sure, it was just day 2 here, but it wouldn't be as "soon" as I thought it to be. In fact, I was at a dead-end on that front.</p>
<p>The storyline offered so far was the generic "hero save world" crap. I had hoped to avoid it entirely if the path to exit was clear. Now? I wasn't sure if I could escape even after saving the world, despite my assurances to others.</p>
<p>One thing was apparent - I lacked information. About magic and how it interacted with this world. 'Yes, this ain't a sprint no more. Think marathon.' I gathered my resolve, taking a deep breath to calm my unsettled nerves. Getting sentimental won't help anymore. That was easier said than done though, given I had lingered among strange people and stranger lands for a better part of a month. Against my wishes, that too. True, I liked to travel as much as the next guy, but this unexpected vacation had thrown me into disarray. Just as a weight threatened to squeeze my heart, a soft knock rang out in the suddenly stifling room, bringing me out of my stupor. "Sir Pat? Are you awake?"</p>
<p>I took a deep breath again, finally managing to shake off whatever melancholy had crept upon me. "Yep. Come on in!" I shouted, faking a smile.</p>
<p>"I see you're awake this time." Francisa's eyes twinkled.</p>
<p>'This girl!' "Were you hoping for another chance to grope me?" I smirked back.</p>
<p>"G-Grope? I was merely hoping to awaken you. I scarcely t-touched your shoulder." She panicked a little, a rush of red coloring her cheeks and ears.</p>
<p>"Sureee." I drawled, lips stretched in a smug smile.</p>
<p>She caught on before I could tease further though, smirk replaced by a business smile. Back to serious mode. "Royal Archmage Kazif Arkanis will be meeting us in the mages' tower." She spoke. "He is the current captain of Royal Mages squadron and also in charge of Lohengramm Mage Tower." 'Do I notice a slight disdain in her tone?' "He will arrange for your tutelage."</p>
<p>"I see. He's the one teaching me?" I questioned.</p>
<p>"No, he will only confirm your Status, then assign mentors and necessary resources for you."</p>
<p>"Hmm. I should go wash my face again. When is the meeting?"</p>
<p>"The audience is in a while, but we shall present ourselves there soon and wait inside anyway." She said with a thoughtful look on her face, which then turned back into her earlier smirk "And yes, you <em>should</em> wash your face. Your luck stat must be in excess; after all, you have acquired a wrinkle-immune robe to sleep in, a deed you seem quite fond of performing often."</p>
<p>"Heh." I had no retort to that but a light chuckle. And the robe <em>was</em> quite comfy. Being free of wrinkles was a secondary concern to me.</p>
<p>"Oh, by the way, Lady Arya and Lady Carol wish to speak with you tomorrow. You all shall have breakfast together. I was given to understand that you missed your concourse today due to a mismatch in luncheon timings." 'Well, that is one mystery solved."</p>
<p>Wondering if luck attribute actually existed, I headed out with the princess in tow.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>The mage "tower" was a three-story high round structure made of similar compressed stone as the palace. More broad than high, we headed towards one of the four entrances - one in each cardinal direction, according to the princess. I was a bit disappointed with the distinctly non-magical and unimpressive architecture but then again, I should have expected it. These people are essentially refugees. The Sun was kissing the horizon behind the tower, turning it into a shadowy featureless giant to my eyes.</p>
<p>Soon we reached the eastern entrance. A large polished door adorned the otherwise plain stone wall. The door stood out due to the numerous designs tastefully etched across the surface. My Perception sphere had already picked up seven separate runes and three intertwined circles. At times like these, I dearly missed my phone. 'Could've just taken a photo now and studied them all in detail later. I hope I get a chance to go over them at some point.'</p>
<p>Francisa extended her hand and touched her palm on the Circle that was etched at the center of the door. It was one of the more distinguishable patterns, the other circles on either side barely visible in the waning light. I would've entirely missed the Runes if not for my ability. They were snugly hidden in the decorative but useless patterns scratched all over the door. I sneakily selected the constructs and ran identify on all three Circles, giving me respectively Circles of Authentication, Intimation, and Alarm from left to right.</p>
<p>I watched in fascination as she scrunched her eyebrows a bit in concentration. The middling Circle - which I assumed to be a form of a magical doorbell - glowed a slight blue spreading a bit across the other Circles, upon which she withdrew her hand. The glow faded after a few seconds as we waited. By the time the sun was halfway down the horizon, the door smoothly swung inside to reveal a dimly lit room and a man in dark robes standing at the threshold.</p>
<p>Squinting my eyes slightly, I noticed that the robes were not dissimilar to my own. Except the color was deep purple instead of bright crimson and more importantly, instead of magic Circles, it had what appeared to be absolute hogwash. Not a single Rune lit up in my perception, despite the nouveau riche appearance and close imitation of Runes.</p>
<p>"F-Fredrick!?!" Francisa almost squealed. "Why are you here?"</p>
<p>"Hello to you too, dear Francisa. As for why I am here - well, I am one of the <em>only</em> two apprentices to His Eminence, The Royal Archmage. As such, I have leave to come and go from the tower as I deem necessary." He then turned to me, inspecting me over from head to toe, not once but twice. Our eyes met, and he puffed a small breath. 'What crawled up this NPC's ass today?'</p>
<p>Turning to Francisa again, he continued. "The hero's session is not till sundown. My master is not so idle as to accommodate those who have otiose time to spare."</p>
<p>"Fredri-"</p>
<p>"But," he cut her off, "since it is you asking, princess, I shall oblige." So saying, he turned his back with a flourish and headed inside. Sending an apologetic glance towards me, Francisa gestured for me to follow her as she walked inside. Her gait was not the princess-y strut she often employed but an unwieldy slog, as if carrying a mountain on her delicate shoulders.</p>
<p>I shrugged and followed. This should be one of the last cut-scenes, I presumed. Once I get a "training" schedule, I would be free to experiment again. And finally, start looking for a way out.</p>
Interlude - A Maid's Resolve2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Interlude%20-%20A%20Maid's%20Resolve/<h2>Interlude - A Maid's Resolve</h2>
<p>"Elise. Such a beautiful name!" My Ma used to tell me. "A beautiful name for a beautiful girl."</p>
<p>Hah. Fat lotta good it did me.</p>
<p>Beautiful girls with beautiful names don't last long in the slums. At least, they don't stay beautiful for long.</p>
<p>Yet, even horny fucks with grabby hands won't touch you if you're smeared in mud and shit, not when they have other options. I learned that quite early on. Had to, if I ever wanted to get outta there in one piece.</p>
<p>Surrounded by dirt and filth, my heart always sought better places. Safer places. Less smelly places. "Your prince will come, baby-girl." My Ma used to console little me with dreams of a man coming to pick me up from my misery one fine day. Worse, I believed her.</p>
<p>As I grew up, I wished for <em>anyone</em> to come take me away. My ways of smearing myself to escape notice were not working anymore. I had taken after my Ma, turning shapely in the right ways.</p>
<p>One evening, when some drunk bastard decided he wanted the daughter along with the mother for company, <em>I</em> decided I had enough. Fuck princes, if I waited any longer I'd end up like my Ma - stumbling from one drunk fool at day to another violent ass come night.</p>
<p>That very night, I packed my meager belongings in a rug-sack. I was gone by the time dawn broke. "One day Ma, I'll return," I swore, "and <em>I</em> will come to pick you up from this shit-hole and take you to a better place."</p>
<p>I did not say goodbye. It would've broken her weak heart. Besides, I was planning to return someday. She would understand.</p>
<p>I never saw my Ma again, God bless her poor soul.</p>
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<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>I was blossoming into a beautiful young woman by the time I passed fifteen summers. And I used it fully to my advantage.</p>
<p>A proper noble boy he was. About a year younger than me.</p>
<p>Oh, the promises he made. Eternal Love. Heart, Mind, and Soul. Forever and Always!</p>
<p>Hah.</p>
<p>Still, I played the maiden in love perfectly. Blushed at his proclamations. Demurred at his gifts. I had him wrapped around my little finger.</p>
<p>And so we hatched a plan to stay together "forever."</p>
<p>I became a maid of his household and two days later, I lost my purity to him.</p>
<p>I was finally here. I had made it. Safe. Well-fed. Warm. Dare I say, happy? My Ma would've been overjoyed to see me here.</p>
<p>And then I caught his seed.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Soon, I learned that some Nobles were no less cruel than the drunk assholes I had escaped from. Just wrapped in fancy threads speaking fancy words.</p>
<p>They threw me out when I started to show. With rags on my back and a few coppers to my name.</p>
<p>The boy, bless his heart, still had lingering affection for me. So he set me up in a homely shack on the outskirts of a village inside their lands.</p>
<p>I carried through without too much difficulty, delivering a healthy babe. I named her Minerva, after my Ma. With Minerva's father's sneaky help, I had just enough to keep me and my girl warm and well-fed. The villagers were quite kind as well. I was content.</p>
<p>A few summers passed. The noble boy turned into a man, with a wife by his side. We spoke no more. It was fine though, I did odd jobs around the village, my skills as a noble's maid were quite handy often. I was not lacking for anything.</p>
<p>It was Minny's sixth summer when the signs started showing. A dizzy moment here, a stumbled foot there. I had hoped she would recover in time. The kindly neighbors provided some herbs and concoctions. Nothing helped. Once she passed out in the field playing with her mates not a month later, I decided to act.</p>
<p>I reached out to her father once again. Age may have turned the boy into a stoic young man, but his heart still thrummed with compassion. Against his dear wife's wishes, he arranged for a healer. Not the magical mender - they were too costly for a bastard daughter - but an Alchemist who dabbled in healing potions.</p>
<p>The Alchemist, in turn, contrived a potion that would delay her symptoms. "I've done what I can, but she needs a proper Healer," He warned. Where in the hell is a "proper Healer" gonna pop up from in this backwater village?</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Ma?" my sweet baby looked up with teary eyes.</p>
<p>"Hush babe. No crying. Mama's gotta get back to work." I held her steady in my arms.</p>
<p>"How long will you be gone this time?" She brushed off her tears with a dirty hand. For a moment, it reminded me of my own filthy hands smearing muck on my tattered tunic as a young girl. I chased the thought away.</p>
<p>"Not long Minny. Who knows, next time, I might just bring a Healer along and cure you in no time. You'll see. In the meantime, you gonna be a good girl, yes? Do not trouble old Martha too much."</p>
<p>"Yes, Mama." Ah, such a good little girl. I <em>knew</em> she won't trouble anyone. Never had.</p>
<p>I kissed her forehead and left. Minny's father had been kind enough to open up doors for me into the Royal Palace. It had been a real struggle, but I had managed to secure a job in the end. If there was anywhere that I could find a Healer and earn enough coin to hire one, it was here. Minerva's final chance. I wasn't gonna let my baby girl down.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>'Hey, need a hand?' The words still echoed around my mind.</p>
<p>Had the hero really offered to clean up plates? 'Nah. The fucker must've wanted a chance to grab my ass.' I still had a shapely ass. These high-born blokes won't touch a dirty plate even if their life depended on it.</p>
<p>But I knew the looks of men lusting after me. After all, I had gotten them all my life. <em>Avoided</em> them all my life. The hero did not hanker after me like that. His eyes were kind, not unlike Minerva's father. Also, he had the princess waiting on him, did he not? No matter how beautiful I was in the slums, the nobles were on another level entirely - and the princess was the noblest among them. Even I got spent in her blue eyes sometimes when I dared to look into them.</p>
<p>'Bah. Thinking of it won't do me good. The sun was rolling down, and the fat bastard is waiting for me in his shitty tower.'</p>
<p>I made my way to the mage tower, carrying snacks as an excuse. The magic door was open and I headed straight up to the top. I sighted a few helpers running around. They glanced at me but no one stopped me.</p>
<p>"Ah, Elly. You're a sight for sore eyes." Lord fat ass was pacing around the lush carpet. 'I hope you get sore eyes for the rest of your life piggy.'</p>
<p>"Um, thank you, Sire. S-Should I...?" I acted a shy maiden. He preferred it so.</p>
<p>Then he loosed his trousers and sat on his bed with a loud thump. "Yes, and do get that plate of bhuna pumpkin while you're there."</p>
<p>I got his plate. He slurped on the sauce like a damn pig in heat. Minerva would have loved that sauce. One day...</p>
<p>I got down on my knees and got to work like a golem from the bard's story. Stone-faced soul-less automaton.</p>
<p>"He wants lessons! Can you believe it? I told him that there is no need to summon green-skinned outsiders - prophecy be damned, but Siegfried won't pay heed." He gushed as he licked the pumpkin sauce clean off the plate. Nobles got quite unnoble-like when they thought no one was looking. At least no one important.</p>
<p>"And then he asks me to tutor that pile of grime? <em>ME</em>? Archmage Arkanis? Even today, the beast-kin tremble upon hearing that name." 'Yes, yes. That would be the ninth time I hear of his glorious conquest this week. '</p>
<p>"Humph." His words came out quickly as his breathing hitched. "I'll show Siegfried. Even I- ah, that's good. Um..." He holds my skull in a vise-like grip. Gods, I always hated this part.</p>
<p>After a few moments and swallowing my disgust, I got off my sore knees. The blubber pulled his britches up and walked over to his shiny cupboard. A few fancy hand-wavy gestures and muttered words later, he procured a finger-long vial of clear liquid.</p>
<p>"Now, I spoke with a Healer friend of mine. And he is willing to cure your daughter. But-" He walked up to me, sickly sweet perfume wafting through my nostrils.</p>
<p>'Oh this fat lard, always with something clever. What more does he want? Take off his fancy clothes and sick perfume and he would fit right into the slum's gutter like a rat.'</p>
<p>"B-but? Sire?" I ask meekly.</p>
<p>"I have one more task for you." His sick smile sends a shiver up my spine. "I hear you serve the Mage hero. Take in his food, clean his room, draw his bath, so on." Darn, I see where this is going. "All you have to do is make sure the liquid in this vial comes into contact with his skin. A simple task really." So saying he placed the vial in my palm, not forgetting to feel my arms while at it.</p>
<p>"What is this... Liquid?" Of course, I knew what it was. But it was too sudden. I needed more time to think through this. So I extended the conversation.</p>
<p>"Oh, you need not worry yourself over it, Elly. Just a gift for our dear hero." He chuckled. How I hate when he says my name like that.</p>
<p>"B-but-" Warming the flab's bed is one thing. But cold-blooded murder?</p>
<p>"I must leave for now." He cut me off. "Have to confer with that blasted hero and the mewling princess, no less. I swear," 'My time is up.' "Do this task. One final task for me and your little daughter is as good as cured."</p>
<p>'My baby girl, or the kind hero?' A life for a life. 'Do I even have a choice?'</p>
Chapter 31 - Best of both worlds2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2031%20-%20Best%20of%20both%20worlds/<h2>Chapter 31 - Best of both worlds</h2>
<p>I followed Francisa into a small room with a round stone table and a few wooden chairs around it.</p>
<p>Fredrick was waiting inside, holding a chair out with a slight smirk. Francisa went and sat down on it, a scowl persistent on her face. He then went on to sit right in front of her. I shrugged as I stepped in and sat in between them.</p>
<p>The silence was thick and tense. Fredrick still held a faint smirk as he gawked at Francisa. She, on the other hand, looked confused and angry in equal measure. Just as I was about to break the ice anyhow, the door opened again and another NPC walked in.</p>
<p>"Ah, greetings princess. You're here already?" A woman's voice echoed from behind me.</p>
<p>"Greetings Neysaa!" princess, losing her scowl, "Yes, the hero and I elected to get in a bit early."</p>
<p>The woman walked in from behind me towards the princess. As soon as she entered my sight, I noticed her tanned brown skin and the gait of those who kept themselves physically fit. She had a small light-blue crystal covered in Runes in her gloved hands, which she placed on the table.</p>
<p>"The hero?" She noticed me then. "Oh, Sir Pat. Greetings!" She greeted politely and curtsied. Her robe was similar to Fredrick's. All show and no function. At least she looked pretty in it. "I am Neysaa Ingrasia. Apprentice to the Royal Archmage."</p>
<p>"Greetings Neysaa." I decided to become formal henceforth with new NPCs. At least with <em>polite</em> new NPCs. "I'm Pat, but you seem to have heard of me already. Nice to meet you."</p>
<p>"Of course. I was supposed to assist my master in setting up your tutelage here." She surmised. Turning to Fredrick with a small frown, she continued, "I did not expect Fredrick here, however."</p>
<p>"When I heard my old friend Francisa was coming, I begged His Eminence for his leave and he graciously allowed me to attend as well." He briefly glanced at Neysaa then went back to smirking at Francisa. "How goes it princess? Are you happy now that you got to fulfill your <em>duty</em>?"</p>
<p>"Fredric-" the princess started but was cut off again. Another person joined our little meet-up. And it was not little anymore.</p>
<p>An NPC who appeared on died of French Fries and Cheeseburgers sauntered into the room. Fredrick stood up and bowed so low I feared his hair might sweep the ground. "Master!" he spoke with a passion. Neysaa was not far behind. With a formal bow no different than what she gave me, she intoned respectfully - "Master Arkanis". Francisa got up and gave a short bow, one that could even pass as a nod. Going with the flow, I got up as well and nodded to the man. I even smiled, to be polite. He sniffed.</p>
<p>Then he ambled around the table and sat down in front of me. The rest took their seats as well. He held up his palm at the crystal and whispered something too low for me to hear, and the Runes on the crystal shined with a whitish-blue glow.</p>
<p>"Place your hand on the sphere." He spoke, boredom coming off in waves from his tone.</p>
<p>I looked at the glowing crystal. I sort of knew what it was, but couldn't help myself. "What is this crystal?"</p>
<p>It was Fredrick who answered. "It's a Status Sphere. It shows your Status Window. Every Noble worth their salt has access to one. Even commoners get to access it when they come of age. To think the hero has never even seen it -"</p>
<p>"Enough banter, Fredrick. Do not waste time." The Archmage admonished Fredrick. 'Perhaps it was angled at me as well?'</p>
<p>'But why do they need an artifact to check their Status Windows. Do they not have Spells for it?' I stashed the mystery for another time. Apparently, the guy had a tight schedule. Without hesitation, I placed my hand on the crystal and a small window became visible above just my hand after a second.</p>
<hr />
<h3>[Master] Mage - Level 20</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Status</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Health</td>
<td>873/873</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mana</td>
<td>2732/2762</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stamina</td>
<td>81/81</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Experience</td>
<td>0/2100</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Attributes</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Strength</td>
<td>21</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vitality</td>
<td>21</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility</td>
<td>21</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dexterity</td>
<td>22</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence</td>
<td>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Perception</td>
<td>30</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdom</td>
<td>26</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Special Effects:</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Magic Boost - You get extra Intelligence, Perception, and/or Wisdom points on every Class Upgrade.</li>
<li>Hero's Boost - You get 100-300% extra experience.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Wait, this is incomplete - I have a couple more special effects!'</p>
<p>"Pff" Fredrick snickered. Neysaa and Francisa were staring at the screen with wide eyes.</p>
<p>"Do you have no Skills, hero?" Arkanis questioned. This was the first time since he entered that I saw him without his blasé attitude. He seemed curious, amused even.</p>
<p>"No, I don't." 'The Mages here get Skills? Betty mentioned something like that.'</p>
<p>Fredrick chimed in. "A hero with no Skills. Barely at level 20. Deliver us from the calamity? Even my younger brother could do better, and he is not thirteen summers yet!" There was still a faint echo of hilarity in his expression.</p>
<p>Francisa soon came out of her daze. "It matters not. He may still use Runes as he sees fit." She gave me a small smile.</p>
<p>"Humph. Extra experience. Not even worth all the trouble..." Arkanis was muttering something to himself. Eventually, he got up with a flourish, picked up the crystal, and left the room; dictating an "I leave this to you" to Neysaa, who was still lost in her own world.</p>
<p>Fredrick leered at Francisa. "See you around, Francisa!" He followed his master out.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"So..." I glanced at Francisa, then at Neysaa, "What's next?"</p>
<p>"Ahem," Neysaa was apparently done with her ruminations, "The lack of Skills matters not, for the duration of training at the very least."</p>
<p>"Those two were making quite a deal about it though?" I countered.</p>
<p>"Well, Mages can sustain themselves on just Runes, but Rune Scrolls are usually one-time use only while being less effective as similar Skills; and the mana cost is quite significant. Etching a Rune Circle takes too much time and effort to be useful in traditional combat, not to mention they are notoriously difficult to get right. Innate Skills, however, are quite easy on the mana and can be cast in a blink. Not to mention infinitely reusable with a steady supply of mana potions. It may not matter much when working in a large party, the army, or even in a group of Mages. But as a hero -"</p>
<p>"I'll be venturing out in small party where without Skills, I can only depend on a small supply of expensive and ineffective Rune Scrolls. Basically, making me useless. But what about Spells?" I wondered. 'I did pull my weight in the Tutorial, didn't I?'</p>
<p>"Pah. Surely you jest, Sir Pat." Neysaa giggled as she stood from the chair. Francisa answered my query instead.</p>
<p>"The Spells are only visible with the Status Spheres, which are rare enough as is. And no new Spells have been created in the last three hundred years. Each Clan guards their Spell books zealously. The Runes are created from those Spells. The Runes, and as an extension the Scrolls and Circles, are thus more or less set in stone. No one uses Spells anymore beyond that. They are more blueprints than tools of war."</p>
<p>"Aptly put, princess." Neysaa walked to the door, holding it open. "I'm aware you seek many answers Sir Pat, but it is time for us to retire today. We shall sit here again on the morrow after breaking fast. I shall be more than happy to supply any answers that I can. I am to be your tutor, after all!"</p>
<p>We said our farewells and I started my stroll back to the palace. Francisa drifted beside me, glancing at me now and then with furrowed brows.</p>
<p>"Something on my face?" I asked lightly.</p>
<p>"Uh, n-no Pat." She hesitated. "It's, uh, about Fredrick..."</p>
<p>'Hmm, not that I care but she looks eager to vent. Guess I should hear her out?'</p>
<p>"Fredrick?" I nudged her on.</p>
<p>"Yes." She held her hands tightly together. "He, uh, may have had feelings for me for a time. For the way he acted today, I beg your forgiveness on his behalf."</p>
<p>Honestly, I was more curious about the Archmage. His dark purple robe had several intermingling Runes. But he acted aloof and ran off before I even had an opportunity to talk properly. I assumed Fredrick was just coded as an asshole NPC and did not give him another thought.</p>
<p>"Um, sure. I don't really mind. What about you? Have you <em>had</em> feelings for him too?" I teased her. Ostensibly, I touched a sore spot.</p>
<p>"N-no. I never... I belong to Sir Pat now. Please, believe me." I noticed moisture forming on the corner of her eyes. Her hands were clamped together so hard that they turned white. She stopped walking and bowed her head. "I swear on my name as the Royal Princess of Clan Lohengramm."</p>
<p>'Wha-?' I stood still, gawking at her sudden change in demeanor. She let out a soft and mightily suppressed sob. Before it could turn into a full-fledged river of tears, however, I hastily consoled her.</p>
<p>"Hey, hey! Francisa. Look at me." I held her shoulders. "Come now, raise your head. I was just joking, okay? It is not your fault but mine. I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"</p>
<p>It took the rest of our march back to the palace to calm her down. 'Hold on, did she say she belonged to me now?'</p>
<p>I decided against broaching the subject again. We had a full dinner again, with me digging into interconnections of Spells, Runes, Scrolls, and Circles. My gap of general knowledge regarding magic usage in the Simulation was slowly filling up.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Aye, and he just disappears right in front of my eyes; like poof, gone!"</p>
<p>We were in my room. Carol, Arya, and I were sitting at the table laden with bread and some hot green liquid. It was not tea. Carol was currently engaged in recalling her introduction with her mentor. My usual maid was frolicking in the corner. 'What was her name again? Elaine? Damn it, I forgot.'</p>
<p>"Looks like you both got along well with your tutors. And <em>I</em> have to read the daily journal, or I should say fanatic mutterings, of some dead old woman." Arya complained as she tore her bread with a vengeance. Her tutor had still not been decided. In the meantime, she was provided with Francisa's great-grandmother's effects to study. A couple of ancient books and a broken staff to be precise.</p>
<p>I had already regaled them with the description of the new NPCs and my interactions with them from last night. "Heh, don't worry Arya, you'll get yours soon enough. And did your mentor get your Status checked as well Carol?"</p>
<p>"Oh, yea. He did place a wee shiny bauble in my hand. It was missing some effects though." Carol mused. "He said I was very lucky with my Skills. They are quite rare, he said."</p>
<p>"And I was almost laughed out the room for not having Skills." I sniffed.</p>
<p>"But it doesn't matter for you, right? What with your magic spells and stuff." Arya queried while taking a sip of the bitter not-tea.</p>
<p>"Well, yes. I can simply flick my finger up and check the Spells. But these NPCs cannot even see their Status Windows without that crystal." I supplied. 'Dare I risk another sip myself?' "I haven't told them that yet. Been wondering if I should at all. It would turn their world upside down, at least for the Mage Class."</p>
<p>"uoah thinfin toh muh." Carol must've come across a particularly stubborn piece of bread.</p>
<p>'Was I?' The crystals were somewhat of a status symbol in this world. Holding one not only signified their high position in the hierarchy, but also gave them the power to create Runes. If they came across someone who could "Identify" without the crystal? Cast Spells bypassing the Runes like their Skills but not restricted to them? Create new Spells from scratch? 'Imagine the chaos!' Even the system itself was hiding information from the NPCs. Perhaps caution was the best approach.</p>
<p>"I'm gonna learn how to turn Spells into Runes today." I continued the conversation. "Runes are supposedly the building blocks of this world's entire magical system. They draw them into Circles to do magic. Some Circles are etched on surfaces to make them permanent. Like my hood on the robe there. They also ink Runes on a piece of paper for a one-time effect. Scrolls, they call them."</p>
<p>"Interesting. How are Scrolls different from Circles?" Arya, very much into the explanation.</p>
<p>"Circles are intricate connections of a large number of Runes, designed for extreme efficiency. Least mana for most effect. They all are also, well, circular for some reason. Some high-level Circles are made up of many low-level Circles. And most Circles require multiple Mages and sustained supply of mana to react." I took the leap, finally sipping on the bitter liquid to hydrate my parched throat. Scrolls, on the other hand, are not restricted to a circular shape, for one. Also, they take up too much mana and have less of a response. A Scroll of lightning, for example, will either throw less lightning, or work for a shorter time, or both; as compared to a Circle. It does use a lot less time, effort, and resources to make that Scroll of lightning, however, as compared to etching a Circle of lightning on a staff. And the Scroll can be used by a single Mage in a pinch, with no issues. Also, a minute mistake while engraving the Circle and the staff is useless." I concluded my explanation.</p>
<p>"And then <em>you</em> have your Spells," Carol smirked.</p>
<p>"And then I have my Spells." I smiled. "Best of both worlds."</p>
Chapter 32 - JIT Compilation2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2032%20-%20JIT%20Compilation/<h2>Chapter 32 - JIT Compilation</h2>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align:center;">It is not the Gods that made the Status Window, but the Status Windows that made the Gods."</p>
<p style="text-align:right">~ Adam Lovelace</p>
<hr />
<p>Adam Lovelace, commonly known as Count Lovelace, was a prolific writer and a genius magical researcher. His exact Class is lost to time.</p>
<p>He was the first to recognize the utility of Runes that had applications beyond pure Circles, and to have created the first Scroll. He is also regarded as one of the last Spell-Makers and counted among the legends of the world.</p>
<p>His views on predominant religious views of the era often brought him into conflict with the Churches of the time. Many of his writings were declared heresy and destroyed. He died at the age of 36, supposedly of poisoning.</p>
<p>As a teenager, his magical talents led him to a long working relationship and friendship with fellow Mage Charlene Babbage, who is known today as "The Last Prophet". It is through her notes that Adam's only surviving Spell and partial research into Scrolls was left for posterity.</p>
</blockquote>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"We must start from the bare beginnings, it seems."</p>
<p>Neysaa frowned, her thoughts churning around the latest predicament. All my "syllabus" was based on the assumption of knowledge known to a Mage of my level. Hell, much of it was simply common knowledge.</p>
<p>"Our young Mages start learning about Runes before they even select their Class. To think Sir Pat reached level 20 without even the basic knowledge is just..." She grimaced, hunting for a proper word.</p>
<p>"Outstanding? Phenomenal? Exceptional? And just Pat, please." I offered like a proper gentleman.</p>
<p>She snorted. "Highly confounding," she countered, pushing her chair back and standing up. "Let us commence with the rudiments then, Pat."</p>
<p>"This is a Scroll." She pulled a piece of vellum out from the stack of broad and heavy books. "Notice the pattern laid drawn here."</p>
<p>I took the Scroll and examined it properly. My Perception could pick out multiple Runes scribbled on it. I wondered if I could Identify it? Runes gave obnoxious garbage but Circles worked fine. Scrolls were supposed to be somewhere in the middle. Unaware of my thoughts, my tutor continued, pointing to a specific character that stood out. It looked like a mix of capital A and Q.</p>
<p>"This here," her finger tracing said character, "is a Rune." Her finger continued along the line into another scribble that was halfway between W and R. "So is this one. The contour that I followed is a mana channel - a connection between the Runes. Although you can connect Runes from any point, some locations are better than others." Her finger came back to the empty top of A. "If I were to start the connection from here, for instance, the flow of mana would be halved. Other cases include the backflow of mana and unstable volume or velocity. In the case of more than two Runes, the difficulties are compounded. Best case, it explodes in your face. Worst case, you drag the entire neighborhood into it."</p>
<p>I wondered what the reason was for such restrictions. She must've seen it on my face. "Do not worry, we will go over proper edge points of common Runes. As for why some outlines work better than others? It is not known."</p>
<p>"I see..." 'I can make a few guesses.'</p>
<p>"Now for the crux of the matter. What is a Rune?" She took a breath for dramatic effect as I perked my ears.</p>
<p>"A Rune is how we Mages manifest our Spells in the physical world." She declared, perhaps expecting applause. Instead, she got a confused query. "Why not use the Spells directly?"</p>
<p>"Pah, now you speak of legends and myths." She had a motherly smile on her face. A lot of kids must ask this question when they're first informed about Runes. "No one knows how to use Spells. Some claim there was a time when we could. But it matters not here and now, does it? We copy the Spells from Spellbooks into our Status Windows, then scribe Runes from Status Window onto a suitable surface."</p>
<p>"And how does one go about... Scribing the Runes from those Spells?" 'This is it, the key that has eluded me for so long!'</p>
<p>"Using the Skill, of course. Every Mage has it! It is perhaps the easiest part of the process. Hold on, I'll get the Status Sphere and we'll read the description of - Oh!" 'Ah, now she remembers.'</p>
<p>She stared at me silently, unsure of how to react. I was expecting this, however. "It's okay, there must be another way. We'll find it." She smiled reluctantly in response.</p>
<p>"Nevertheless, as your tutor, it falls on me to ensure you are well-versed in all aspects of magic, including its history. So let us study the life and time of one who was one of the last Spell-Makers and his influence on rune-craft thence."</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>With the current war efforts and scarce manpower, all manner of research not directly beneficial to defeating the enemy was put on hold. In fact, most of the effort was focused on producing as many items and consumables as possible. Neysaa was no exception. We had lunch in the small room inside the tower, then leaving to read a book about possible interpretations of the prophecy, she left to finish her quota of Scrolls for the day. If nothing else, the book did explain why the NPCs were so well prepared for our arrival.</p>
<p>There were many advantages I had that over the NPCs here. Being left alone with a chock full of magical artifacts was a perfect opportunity for me to exercise those advantages.</p>
<p>I kept the large book - a tome, as she called it - aside. Snagging a two-Rune Scroll, I started my experimentation.</p>
<p>"Identify" I whispered.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Scroll of Humidity</h3>
<hr />
<p>'Whoa! It works. Hmm, why humidity? Is this one of the harmless Spells they use for teaching purposes?'</p>
<p>I focused on the AQ Rune - "Identify."</p>
<hr />
<p>x7761746572 = x7768696c6528747275652977617465722b2b</p>
<hr />
<p>'Hmm, figured.' Just for kicks, I tried the other Rune as well.</p>
<hr />
<p>x686561740a = x7768696c65287472756529686561742b2b0a</p>
<hr />
<p>'Oh well.'</p>
<p>Neysaa refused to show me any of her Spells. Apparently, those were considered valuable resources in their own right. The families that owned the Spellbooks considered them their family heirlooms, letting only their direct bloodline access to it. Closed source software taken to the extreme.</p>
<p>Given that their world was about the end, I assumed they would loosen their wallets a bit. No such luck. And so I was stuck once more.</p>
<p>I could make Spells. But I needed more references on how to actually make some. Blind experimentation can only take one so far. I'm glad I had not imploded into singularity yet, given Neysaa's horror stories of how new Scrolls and Circles came to be.</p>
<p>Thought I had grasped what the Runes were in their entirety. While the Spell in my repository was the "source code", Runes were the compiled "machine code" of the same. From a similar perspective, the number of modules or the overall complexity of the source determined the resultant pattern formed. A simple function, say to induce heat, formed a single Rune. To have complex behavior with multiple functions required "connections" between the Runes. Scrolls were simple, crude, low complexity programs while the Circles were the exact opposite. One major thing that separated my understanding of this system from the NPCs was that for me, there was no difference between a Rune, a Scroll, or a Circle. From my point of view, they were all bundles of compiled code.</p>
<p>I held the Humidity Scroll in my hands, caressing the soft surface. 'Should I just forget about Runes? I can use Spells after all.'</p>
<p>I traced my finger over the clumsy lines. 'Neither the ink nor the surface makes a difference. Something to draw with and something to draw on - that is what matters Neysaa says. I could just as well use a crayon and squiggle on a wall. What makes it a Rune though?'</p>
<p>"Greetings, Pat!" Francisa strolled into the room, bright-eyed and out of breath. "Studying hard?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, you could say that."</p>
<p>"Apologies, I could not join for luncheon. My mother was quite insistent on sharing the table with me today." She sat down on a rickety chair with her usual grace and picked up the copy of interpreted prophecies I had previously abandoned. "Written by a student of the Last Prophet. I used to read this when I was a child. Oh, such nostalgia." 'You used to read inches-thick densely-worded academic tomes as a child?' I wasn't sure if I should be impressed or saddened by her upbringing. She continued - "You seem to have seen chipper days. What dilemma casts such a shadow on your day?"</p>
<p>"Um, well. I've just been thinking about something."</p>
<p>"And what might be perplexing you so?"</p>
<p>"I was just wondering what Runes are made of, you know? Like, not ink and stuff, but what they are <em>really</em> made of? What makes a Rune different than say, a normal letter." I hoped the point got across somehow.</p>
<p>"Why, it's the mana, surely!"</p>
<p>"I-it's the... Mana..." 'ARGH! WHY AM I SO DUMB?'</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Alright, here goes nothing!"</p>
<p>I held the quill in my right hand, the left holding the papyrus-like paper down, posed to trace the outlines at a moment's notice. Francisa stood in the corner near the door, staring with avid interest although ready to flee all the same. The sun was straight in front of the window by the side, wavering between the light azure of the day and yellowish-orange of the evening.</p>
<p>I had wrongly believed that Spell used mana to manifest. Though not entirely incorrect, my mistake was in assuming that all the mana went into making the Spell come into reality. It was a more involved process though. Roughly speaking, half of the mana went into "compiling" the spell and the other half went into "executing" it.</p>
<p>My method of creating a Rune was to somehow stop after compiling the Spell. To copy the compiled data onto the surface and defer execution for later.</p>
<p>As with all things in this Simulation, the conscious intent to perform an action mattered a lot. I had to precisely visualize exactly how I wanted the whole process to go.</p>
<p>On a whim, I selected the yet untarnished piece of paper. "Stupefy," I murmured.</p>
<p>I felt some mana loss. The quill in my hand did not move. I looked at the paper and noticed a figure appearing on it.</p>
<p>It was a radially symmetrical pattern, perfectly aligned. Two large Runes adored the perimeter, diametrically opposite of each other. Four smaller Runes surrounded the former two, not unlike rubies to add spice to larger diamonds. None of the Runes had any similarities to the alphabets I knew. Yet there was a raw beauty to them. Like a master calligrapher had a divine epiphany. Hell, even the threads that were now connecting them somehow felt like silky treasures. I stared in awe as the pattern was completed.</p>
<p>And then it burst into fire.</p>
<p>The princess immediately flushed the parchment off the table and away from the other materials. I stared dumbly as she tapped out the fire. "Cheap paper couldn't handle that much mana." She laughed. I laughed as well. 'I fucking did it!'</p>
<p>Just a change in perspective. A slightly different way of looking at things. That was all keeping me from etching Runes for so long. 'Hindsight is always 20/20. Anyway, I am no genius.' Better to be thankful that I had managed something after all this time.</p>
<p>"Notwithstanding the ultimate fate, that was an impressive showing."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I can finally form Runes. That Scroll was quite something to see." I exhaled a breath I didn't realize I had bottled up. 'When did I get so tired?'</p>
<p>"It was a sight to behold for sure. But if I'm not mistaken, it was no Scroll, Pat. It was a proper Circle."</p>
<p>I stared at her dumbly. Again. I was doing that a lot today.</p>
<p>Before I had more time to ruminate on my success, Neysaa returned. She wasn't alone. A harried and wide-eyed Arya accompanied her.</p>
<p>"Arya? What happened?" I forgot all about Runes and Circles for the moment.</p>
<p>"It's Carol." Arya stammered, taking short strained breaths. "She's missing."</p>
Chapter 33 - The Chase (1)2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2033%20-%20The%20Chase%20(1)/<h2>Chapter 33 - The Chase (1)</h2>
<p>Arya was pacing the room frantically. Francisa and her brother were sitting silently by the table. I watched the last glow of the Sun vanish behind the horizon, my feet rooted near the window-still. The gorgeous sunset failed to inspire any confidence in me.</p>
<p>One of the Spartan guards knocked and opened the doors to my room. A whole squad of them had followed me and Arya from the tower. NPC leader walked in with a stoic expression. ‘Not good news then.’</p>
<p>“Did they find her?” Arya immediately stopped pacing and focused on the new arrival.</p>
<p>He shook his head weakly. ‘Damn it!’</p>
<p>“I come bearing grave tidings.” He took a breath, then continued. “The soldiers have located her tutor. His throat was slit.” The room went still at the revelation.</p>
<p>‘This is too much. We need to find Carol immediately. Simulation or not, everything here is too realistic to be dismissed as a game.’</p>
<p>“Then, what should we do next?” I broke the silence.</p>
<p>“Unfortunately, Sir Pat and Lady Arya are too pivotal to be without escort henceforth. The assailants seem to have specifically targeted Lady Carol. They may come for either of you as well. As for the next steps, our best Rangers are tracking outward from the tutor’s location.” He exhaled, giving us a moment to absorb our helplessness. Arya started pacing again.</p>
<p>“Rest assured Lady Arya, we will find Lady Carol. As for the perpetrators of this crime, I give you my word, they will pay.” I could see the simmering rage in his eyes, behind the facade of calm stoicism.</p>
<p>Arya neither acknowledged his words nor stopped her pacing. He nodded at his kids and me, then left the room. Two of the Spartans followed, leaving several behind.</p>
<p>“Pat, this simulation… It’s too real. Even on our first night here, that prince - He… I almost… And now Carol. Oh, God!” Arya started hyperventilating.</p>
<p>I willed my feet to move. “Can you give us a minute?” I spoke to Francisa while keeping an eye on Arya. “Of course” she whispered, her voice small. Her little brother followed obediently.</p>
<p>As they reached the door, I walked towards Arya. She had a single tear sliding down her cheek. “Hey,” I placed my hand on her shoulder, “remember when Carol had to hide from those baboons?” I gently guided her towards the table where the water jar was placed.</p>
<p>“She was so silent that the thing never noticed her, not even when her dagger pierced its heart.” I sat her down. The maid poured a mug of water from the jar. ‘Bless her.’ I did not even notice her there. “And that dragon? She even hid from a god-damn dragon!”</p>
<p>Arya took a hesitant sip, confusion apparent in her moist eyes. “If it was anyone else, I’d be worried. But Carol? She’s probably sulking in the shadows somewhere tricking her kidnappers and laughing at their expense.”</p>
<p>That did get a chuckle. But her mirth vanished just as quickly.</p>
<p>“About this prince thing, do you wanna talk about it?” I asked lightly.</p>
<p>“No. Not right now. Right now we have to do something about Carol.”</p>
<p>“I agree. What can we do though?” I wondered. Sitting here doing nothing was unnerving. I took a sip of water myself. “We don’t even know who took her or why.”</p>
<p>There was no answer to my question. We sat in silence, lost in our own thoughts.</p>
<p>“S-Sire,” the maid stuttered. “Lady, if I may?”</p>
<p>I looked at the maid, slightly surprised, “Oh, what is it?”</p>
<p>“Lady Arya, you be a Healer, right?”</p>
<p>Arya murmured a positive reply, mildly curious about the line of questioning.</p>
<p>“T-then, as a charge for treating my daughter, I may have something that could help.”</p>
<p>I held my breath, Arya clenched her fists beside me.</p>
<p>The maid, Elise, thrust a hand in her multi-layered but well-hidden skirt pocket and produced a glass vial. At first glance, it looked empty but a closer look revealed some liquid sloshing inside.</p>
<p>“I was told to put this in Sire’s bathwater come morn.” She placed the vial on the table. Neither Arya nor myself reached for it.</p>
<p>“What is it?” I questioned.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry Sire, I do not know. I was just told to pour it in.” She bowed her head.</p>
<p>“And who was it that told you to do it?” Arya asked, her knuckles white.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>We took the news to Francisa and her father. The night was quite frantic.</p>
<p>They grilled the maid, before sending another squadron of Spartans to capture the Royal Archmage. I’m told it was quite the fight. In the end, they subjugated the man. He was interrogated as well. Both maid and mage were settled in their prison cells by the time dawn broke.</p>
<p>Now here we stood in the empty throne room, no opulent NPCs nor table laden with feasts today. NPC leader’s stoic facade had faltered as the night progressed; his determination saturating the room.</p>
<p>“They belong to a faction of New Church.” He started, his baritone voice echoing from the stone walls. “The heathens who captured Lady Carol.”</p>
<p>“New Church?” I wondered aloud.</p>
<p>“That is what they call themselves, although no sane man would think them as followers of any God. Some among the believers were quite fiercely against the prophetic summoning of Heroes. We quelled their idiocy, as it were, but to think they were simply biding their time…”</p>
<p>“So, they captured Carol because she was summoned against their will?” ‘Petty revenge?’</p>
<p>“According to the New Church’s beliefs, the calamity is a culmination of human sin, sent forth by the Gods to cleanse the world. And it is up to us to face it, not the heroes who are not of this world. The faction I mentioned takes this further, claiming that if heroes defeat the calamity instead of us, then it will occur again and there will be no salvation.”</p>
<p>“Then, Carol…” Arya could not voice our worst fears out loud.</p>
<p>“Lady Carol is most assuredly still alive. If they were after her life, they could’ve ended it along with her tutor’s. Yet they waylaid her instead. Even the substance the maid provided was not lethal. They needed you alive. I cannot fathom a reason.”</p>
<p>“What was the liquid for? And if we know who has Carol, can we predict where she could be taken?” I questioned.</p>
<p>“The vile substance is non-lethal, but it cripples the mana pool. For some Mages, it is a state worst than death. As for Lady Carol’s whereabouts, the thugs got wind of Arkanis’s arrest last night and fled. Our Rangers found the empty house of one of their suspected high-level members at the edge of Noble Quarters.”</p>
<p>“Empty…?” Arya, despondently hanging her head.</p>
<p>“All hope is not lost, however. The culprits left hastily, and the Rangers are sure of their heading.” The NPC added, hoping to reassure us. Arya looked up with a light in her eyes.</p>
<p>“Where would that be?” I perked up, no less hopeful than Arya.</p>
<p>“Towards the Centaur lands.” He lamented.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>We had a choice - continue our training in the palace while our host’s forces retrieved our mate or we join said force for the retrieval. Of course, we chose the latter; despite the insistence of the NPC leader and Francisa. Not the least because we weren’t training so much as simply reading books for now. Arya’s tutor hadn’t showed up and I didn’t really need to "learn" so much as practice to improve. So off we went to rescue the damsel in distress. Francisa wanted to follow us but NPC leader whispered a few words and she stayed put with slouched shoulders.</p>
<p>The Rangers, who had sniffed out the empty house of New Church member, were already in pursuit. Another force was being mobilized as reinforcement. Arya and I stood outside the gates, hefting a burly sack filled with essential supplies. No magic dimensional super pouch to the rescue.</p>
<p>“This is Captain Godart, an esteemed Warrior of the clan. He will be leading this rescue party,” NPC leader gestured towards a tanned gruff NPC with biceps competing with tree trunks. Said man grunted in our direction, then continued monitoring his men. “Not a man of many words, but he more than makes up for it with his skills. And this -“</p>
<p>“Hi-Hi!” another NPC, a woman this time, in light grey armor exclaimed with a cheery voice. She made her way towards us, slipping between the throng of busy soldiers with the grace of a lithe cat. “I’m the second in command, Seline. Level 56 Sniper. At your service!”</p>
<p>Both Arya and I politely nodded our heads and said our hellos. ‘Level 56 Sniper, eh? Let's see what Identify shows for this NPC.’</p>
<hr />
<h3>[??] Sniper - Level ??</h3>
<hr />
<p>'Huh, so given my current level 20, I see a single question mark for those above me but not far ahead, possibly levels 21 to 44. I can see their skills and special effects sometimes. Double question mark for those who have one "evolution", apparently above level 45. And triple for those with "double evolution" I guess? Following the scheme, should be levels 65 to 80. How the hell is Francisa above level 65 already?'</p>
<p>“Wondering what a Sniper is, are you?” ‘Well, not really.’ “Ha, even I was surprised when I got this option. Apparently, it was because I could shoot from <em>really</em> far away. A Sniper is just a more specialized type of Archer. Care to guess from how far away I can shoot a man’s helmet off?”</p>
<p>'Option? And did she get a Sniper Class <em>because</em> she could shoot from far? Shouldn't it be the other way around? What's the point otherwise?'</p>
<p>She looked expectantly in our direction. “Seline…” NPC Captain growled, his unspoken threat cutting through the hustle and bustle.</p>
<p>“Oh! Duty calls. And yeah, don’t worry about your friend. My husband is leading the Rangers following her trail. He’ll get her soon enough, you’ll see. He never fails to find his prey.” She waved and retreated into the crowd.</p>
<p>Eventually, the preparations were completed. We bid farewell to our hosts and got inside a posh carriage. If I had to compare it to something in our world, it’d come close to a small RV. With magical suspension. It proved quite the life-saver when we launched like a missile and sped into the distance, the city soon a spot on the horizon. Needless to say, there wasn’t much in the way of sightseeing.</p>
<p>The carriage thundered ahead without stop until the shadows were right below us. The horses needed to rest. It was going to be a long road, so we had to pace ourselves. That is what we were informed at least. We opened up our bags and took out our rations - a fried egg sandwich with minced vegetables. Honestly, this wouldn’t be out of place at a picnic. And it was god-damn delicious to boot. I mulled over the smell that wafted from the still-hot sandwich - I won’t be able to enjoy it later after all. Unfortunately, my indulgence was cut short when a piece of cloth covering our luggage moved in the corner. The cloth fell and revealed a young face with dirty blond hair and familiar sky blue eyes. We had a royal stowaway.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>“We continue,” the Captain decided, and that was it.</p>
<p>The NPC prince glanced from where he was hiding behind Arya. Looking closer, he must be around six or seven years old.</p>
<p>Now that the captain was gone, his face blossomed into a smile - a smile of someone who got away with mischief. The kid had somehow sneaked into the RV just before we departed.</p>
<p>I floated the idea of sending the kid back with one of the soldiers. I had long realized that I need not be a simple observer in these cut-scenes. According to Captain, however, the prince was safer with us. They were assigned to guard Arya and me as well, besides being backup for the Rangers. What’s one more ward? I had to agree. The Captain ordered Seline to send a message back to the palace about the new development. I wondered how they would do that.</p>
<p>Yet, I was more interested in the ongoings inside our carriage. Upon some coaxing from Arya, the kid, Philippe, confessed that he was scolded by his father and had decided to run away with “big sis hero”. And so we had one more guest sharing our carriage - and my sandwich.</p>
<p>The soft texture of the carriage seat was almost comparable to the lush bed. I barely felt the rapid progress we made, even relishing in a refreshing nap after the filling lunch. One moment I closed my eyes and the next, it was evening already.</p>
<p>“…skipping the village. That way, we’ll reach Monoreth a bit into the night. It is dangerous to travel at night, so we’ll camp near the city walls. Come dawn, we’ll be off to and in Galihad in time for breakfast!” An upbeat voice fluttered against my ears as I shook the last vestiges of my sleep.</p>
<p>“You’re awake?” Arya glanced at me. Philippe was still sleeping by the side. “That was Seline. Says we’ll reach our destination by tomorrow morning.”</p>
<p>“Galihad? How do we know Carol’s there?” I sat up, reaching into the bag to pull another sandwich. Cold but still delicious.</p>
<p>“I don’t know. That’s where the Rangers are headed tough. And she better be there.” The setting Sun turning her eyes into liquid fire. A question died on my lips. The sandwich was forgotten for the moment, the slight melancholy on her face offsetting my hunger. The moment stretched on, as she took a deep breath and pursed her lips. Since when did the golden sunlight of the evening make everything so gorgeous? I was so lost in the view that I almost missed the significance of the words she uttered next.</p>
<p>“Because it’s the last human city in this direction. Beyond that? It's a war-zone.”</p>
Chapter 34 - The Chase (2)2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2034%20-%20The%20Chase%20(2)/<h2>Chapter 34 - The Chase (2)</h2>
<p>The journey continued as the sun exhausted its last light upon an entourage riding with grave purpose. Pretty soon, it became dark enough that even watching the scenery stream by outside became impossible. I wanted to go through the "Utility Spells and their Origin" book I borrowed from Neysaa but the carriage was <em>just</em> bouncy enough to make reading it a burden. Never having traveled for so long with no means of easy distraction, boredom threatened to creep in my mind. Even Arya had started looking listless between her bouts of worry and rage. The young prince was asleep in the bundle of warm blankies in the corner.</p>
<p>"They look so life-like, don't they?" I wondered out aloud.</p>
<p>"What do you mean?" Arya replied, listlessness disappearing from her eyes.</p>
<p>"These NPCs. They seem so realistic." I repeated.</p>
<p>"Pat... I think they are real." She replied, glancing at the bundle in the corner.</p>
<p>"Oh, what makes you think so?" I was curious. I had yet to make up my mind about the denizens of this world. For the most part, I initially considered them characters generated by the same creators who made the simulation. But the last few days I spent among these "characters" increasingly challenged that perception.</p>
<p>"Um, It's hard to pin it down to one thing. They are just so... so...", the bundle in the corner moved, a part of cloth slipping to reveal an innocent face resting peacefully.</p>
<p>"Real?" I finished, both of us staring at the lightly snoring form. I decided to postpone any conclusion on the matter. Our conversations so far had inevitably led to either Carol or silence, so I tactfully forced another topic. "Well, at least magic is real."</p>
<p>She chuckled at that and continued, "You haven't been experimenting lately?"</p>
<p>"Naw, it's been like 5 days since we left tutorial?" She nodded, I continued. "First couple were spent talking and resting. There was that parade and stuff the next. Yesterday I spent the whole time reading random books. And today-"</p>
<p>"Today, you spend the whole time in a carriage. Why not experiment in the carriage then?" She queries.</p>
<p>"Apparently, when spells go wrong, they go <em>really wrong</em>. Like mad science explosions." I recalled Neysaa's lesson. "Didn't wanna take the risk here."</p>
<p>"But you've done it before, on the bridges. Did you not say that your spells are different from what Mages do here? Why not try something benign, you know water-ball or... Hey, how about light? Like those magical lamps back in the palace?" She concluded, her voice rising.</p>
<p>I thought about it. It really had been a while since I added a new spell to my repo. And now I had a kinda-sorta reference book as well. "Utility Spells and their Origin" was a thin Spell-book with about a dozen "open-source" spells that were taught to novice Mages for practice. Unfortunately for me, it was <em>not</em> filled with programs, but with esoteric nonsense like sift the wind, feel the energy, and other vague bullshit. This led me to believe that a "spell repository" and especially Spells themselves were shown differently to different Mages, depending on how they thought they best interacted with the world. I was almost sure that I would see some sort of poetry in Neysaa's Status Window instead of code like mine. If she has only opened it up for me to gawk at. Anyhoo, I could still parse natural phenomena from the ramblings and build something resembling a Spell out of it. Thus, I pulled out the book from an easily accessible pocket, skimmed through the pages until I found what I was looking for.</p>
<p>"Dark is a manifestation of ignorance. Verily, Light is the knowledge that dispels it." Arya whispered, her voice close by my side nearly tingling my earlobes. 'When the hell did she change places?' She must've noticed my look. "You get so absorbed when reading..." 'Well, true.' "Anyway, are you sure this is a light spell? Looks like a hodgepodge to me."</p>
<p>I glanced below the opening title and read out the contents. "But hate not the Dark, for it is a vessel. A child new to the world in an empty vessel, born in the dark and came to Light. It learns the lessons of its ancestors and thus the vessel is filled with knowledge. And Dark turns to Light."</p>
<p>"Hmm..." Arya hummed and pointed to a section on the page. "I think this is the meat of this Spell, the rest is fluff. Here," She began reading, "Wield the knowledge that fills thy vessel, as a fire rages against the wind and yet cannot survive without it; as the Sun - the greatest of the holy fires, dispels the ignorance of night; so shall thee harness thy... blah blah... lightning in the storm... blah blah... sparks of Light into a steady lamp that burns through the night. Hmm, it keeps going like that."</p>
<p>"Yes, that tells me exactly what to do." I stared into her eyes with a deadpan face.</p>
<p>She slapped my shoulder lightly and snorted. "Oh come on, at least we know that it is connected to fire and lightning. And the Sun, I think?"</p>
<p>"Right, right... Guess we should get a fusion going then?" Me, still with a stiff expression, hoping to express the depths of my sarcasm.</p>
<p>"Don't be an ass. Just try something already. What about LEDs? Can you copy how they work?" She chided me. 'Hmm, not a bad idea. I already know how to generate small voltages. Maybe she is on to something...'</p>
<p>I scrounged up memories from my junior college lessons on electronics. Light Emitting Diodes are basically special semiconductors; they emit light when electrons jump into empty places and release photons. 'These empty places, were they dubbed holes? Since I can generate a potential difference, I have a bunch of electrons ready to jump. Do I need to create the holes separately? I need to form a junction somehow. And also adjust the distance such that they emit light instead of just heat...' I was so lost in my ruminations that I almost missed the carriage halting. Even the kid had woken up in the meantime, Arya having left me to my thoughts and conversing with him. There was a knock on the carriage door and opened to reveal a figure clad in grey. "We've reached Monoreth, we will camp here for the night and leave at dawn. Does anyone need anything?" I shook my head, Arya replied in negative. "What about you, your highness? Having a pleasant trip?" She stared at the kid with a hint of a smile on her face. It was difficult to make out in the dark though. The kid murmured something and decided the carriage floor was the most interesting thing ever. Seline chuckled. "Come on out by the campfire later, there should be some stew and bread ready to go."</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Our retinue consisted of a couple dozen personnel loyal to clan Lohengramm. Most of them were double marks, a few triple. I stepped out of the carriage after Arya and Phillipe into the cold air, Seline easily visible in front of a bright fire stirring into something resembling a small cauldron. She beckoned us over with a wave.</p>
<p>"Here you go! Steaming hot rabbit stew and a day-old bread ready to serve." As she handed over our bowls - filled with bread pieces mixed in the sloshing liquid, I glanced around the camp layout. There were few tents pitched, I assumed most would either be on the lookout or sleep in other carriages. I sat down beside Arya on a conveniently flat boulder and tentatively sipped the mixture. 'Eugh, too salty!'</p>
<p>"So, what do you think?" Arya spoke up from beside me after tasting her own with a grimace.</p>
<p>"A little less salt would've been nice." I appraised.</p>
<p>"I meant about the LED Spell, Pat!" She sighed, "What do you think? Is it doable?"</p>
<p>"Oh, right." I adjusted the bowl in my hand absently as I thought about the answer. "Well, yes. It is doable. I just need to find a suitable surface, and then adjust the variables to emit light."</p>
<p>She picked up a pebble from the ground with her free hand and presented it to me. "How about this for a surface?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, it will do just fine. Wanna try right now?" I asked, as Phillipe wandered by and sat on the other side of Arya, supping nonchalantly out of his bowl. I thought about the kind of spell I would need to create a junction, and vary its size as well. Glancing around to ensure no one was paying attention to us, I swiped my finger up, opened up my spell repo, and added the testing spell.</p>
<hr />
<pre><code class="language-sh">
light_up hr lr = create_high_point hr && create_low_point lr
</code></pre>
<hr />
<p>For this spell, I would need to select two regions, and they should be close enough that the electrons from low potential could jump to the high potential region and form holes. With Arya's go-ahead, I spread my awareness and focused on the pebble in her hand. It was pretty small, the size of a fingernail. I managed to select its entire outer surface as one region and an inner sphere as another, just like modern LEDs. For dramatic effect, I raised my index finger and pointed at the selection, then spoke in a low but clear tone - "light_up."</p>
<p>Nothing happened. I noticed my mana ticking down. '<em>Something</em> must be happening... But what?'</p>
<p>"So when is- Ouch!" Arya dropped the pebble hastily, "It burned my finger!"</p>
<p>"Ah, I'm sorry, are you OK?" I looked up at her, and then at the pebble when she nodded her okay. 'It got hot, so my spell ran fine. But the junction was probably too big so it just emitted heat.'</p>
<p>"Big sis..." squeaked a small voice out of nowhere. "Did you hurt your hand?"</p>
<p>I had forgotten about the kid. Arya smiled down warmly at him and showed her palm. "It was just a little hot. Nothing happened, see?"</p>
<p>"Okay, um..." he murmured and chewed his lip. Arya urged him to continue. "U-Uncle Kazif said Mages need to make Runes to do magic. B-But..." and he went silent, the unasked question hanging in the still air as the campfire crackled in the distance.</p>
<p>'Damn it. What do I say? Do I have to lie? Is this one of those pivotal moments Divin warned about?'</p>
<p>"Ah, but Pat has Runes carved into his robe already!" 'Damn, you are a life-saver, Arya.' My grateful eyes connected with hers dancing with silent mirth. "Do you see those red circles?"</p>
<p>"Y-yes..." the kid noted in a whisper, refusing to meet my eyes for some reason. Thankfully, he had no more questions. Arya chuckled at my apparent relieved face, and asked "Round 2? I'm not holding it though!"</p>
<p>"Sure..." I glanced around again to ensure our privacy, ensuring none but the little prince was privy to our experiment. Just to be safe, I drew some decorative gibberish patterns into the dirt around the pebble with the back of my spoon. This time, I did not raise my hands. 'Mana? Check.' Rather, I put all my focus on selecting the regions <em>and</em> keeping them selected while the spell was in progress. I started off with the same distance as before. "light_up," I whispered and watched my mana start to tick down. I moved the inner region close to the outer. My mana was going down faster, but the rate was quite tame compared to Stupefy.</p>
<p>'Closer... Closer... Closer...' And suddenly, the pebble seemingly turned into a bluish-white pearl, casting a dim light onto the haphazard curves drawn around it. Unbeknownst to me, my lips curled into a wide smile as I stared at the mesmerizing display.</p>
<p>"Cute! Is that a modified magic lamp Circle?" Startled, I lost focus of my selections and the spell was cut short. Seline had crept up behind me at some point. I was wondering how to reply when she resumed speaking herself. "Anyway, I have good news. My husband got eyes on the Scout-Hero. Told you so, didn't I?" She raised her hand to stall Arya's immediate questions. "She is alive and unhurt. <em>And</em> the Rangers have a plan, so worry not. We will be leaving early in the morning, so drink your stews and be off to your carriage-beds. Night-Night!" With that, she stalked off. Arya and I emptied our bowls, mirroring each other's wide smiles and straighter shoulders. The salty aftertaste barely diminishing our relief.</p>
<p>I pocketed the cold pebble and took it with me to the carriage. I wanted to recreate that spell again, try increasing the intensity, and direct the light somehow. I bid goodnight to Arya and the prince, closed the curtains to my compartment, and took out my experiment prop. With a thought, I renamed the 'light_up' function. A smile crept upon my face as I selected the regions and whispered softly under the cover of my thick blanket - "Lumos!"</p>
Chapter 35 - The Chase (3)2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2035%20-%20The%20Chase%20(3)/<h2>Chapter 35 - The Chase (3)</h2>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align:center;">They use arrows only for two things - hunting and warning shots. Them stick-legs are crazy like that.</p>
<p style="text-align:right">~ An unknown soldier on Galihad border</p>
<br />
<hr />
<br />
<p>Centaurs are some of the last beast-kin that remain fully independent on the Eastern Alteraz after the mass-migration of humans in the last decades. Some beast-kin are closer to humans like the rabbit-based species. Some are closer to their animal nature, like the rat-based species. Centaurs - based on human and horse species, are somewhere in the middle - quite literally so by sporting a human torso hosted on equine bodies. Two main factors contributed to their independence so far - first, their relatively isolated location coupled with nomadic nature, and second, their fierce blood-thirsty glory-based warrior culture.</p>
<br />
<br />
The first factor refers to the vast grassy plains in north-eastern Alteraz that the Centaurs call home. The plains are also home to several monster species that roam the lands frequently. When the clans first made landfall, they took over the entire eastern coast before foraying into the central region. The conquest to the south was stopped short by faerie magic. Once the strip of land from the eastern coast to central mountains was under clan control, they turned their eyes north. And thus the Centaur wars began.
<br />
<br />
Speaking of the war, it was unlike a usual clash of armies. The most common tactic was raiding, either by clan allies on Centaur outposts or the other way around. It was understood that Centaurs were on the losing side - they had no access to magic on large scale. Only known magic casters are the so-called "elders" who would "beg understanding" from their "ancestors" to cast "miracles" - as reported by a High-level Ranger. The clans refer to them as "shamans" in their war-meets. Despite being magicless, the Centaurs are fierce warriors. They ride like the wind herself on their strong horse legs, and their arms carry the strength of a dozen men. One peculiar facet of their culture is their idea of glory. They believe in meeting foes on equal grounds. Clashing weapons as a measure of strength. Usually, they shoot a warning arrow at an unwary outpost Scout to herald their arrival and then ride in like the storm itself. This stratagem works well on open grounds, coming in fast and leaving behind dismembered remains of their enemies.
<br />
<br />
The clan allies raise enchanted walls.
</blockquote>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Dawn failed to wake me up that day. So did the moving carriage - granted it was not <em>that</em> bouncy. The efforts of last night's experiments drained me until I didn't even realize when I fell asleep.</p>
<p>What did wake me was frantic prodding on my shoulder. Bleary-eyed, I noticed Arya's just-washed face and messy moist hair - still managing to look cute in a way only cute things can be. And her finger poking me. "Wake up already, jeez dude!"</p>
<p>"Just 5 mo-" I started on autopilot.</p>
<p>"No! We're here already. Get up." Her firm tone registered before the contents of her speech. I was sitting up before I realized the significance.</p>
<p>"So, where is she?" I asked, stifling a yawn. Getting the news last night had really removed a burden from our shoulders.</p>
<p>"They have her. The Ranger corp infiltrated the mansion where they were holding her last night. Carol is safe, and they've caught the culprits already. Now they are waiting on us to transport them back." Arya mentioned lightly.</p>
<p>"Good, good. So you're waking me up <em>now</em> because...?" We already knew she was going to be safe. Indifferent as my attitude might sound like, I did detest being woken up mid-sleep.</p>
<p>"Are you always this grouchy when you wake up?" She raised her hand before I could respond. "Rhetorical. And I woke you up <em>now</em> because we are nearing the mansion. You're welcome."</p>
<p>While I recognized my own irritated state and accepted it as who I was, I did not wish to transfer said state onto another person, who by all accounts was helping me out. I took a deep breath to shake off the last vestiges of drowsiness. And another just to be sure. Then looked up and smiled at Arya.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry. I didn't get much sleep last night, was experimenting with Lumos. And thank you for waking me up."</p>
<p>"Again, you're welcome. I wanna hear more about the spell, but later." She smiled back. The morning sun did wonders to her beautiful face, lit up with a smile as it was. "Now go wash your face. We'll have breakfast with Carol."</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Took ya'll long enough." Apparently, someone else was grouchy in the morning. Or not, because the next moment she ran into Arya for a big hug. I was pulled in despite my protests.</p>
<p>After an uncomfortably long hug at the gates of a decrepit mansion, I took a good look at Carol. There were bandages on her left hand, applied recently. Her clothes looked like they had taken a tumble in a hurricane. Her hair had more twigs and dirt than a random bush. Mud cacked her entire right torso. And she smelled like ash and smoke, for some reason. Despite all this, there was a radiant smile on her face. Her beaming face was taking in us both as well, eyes softening when landing on Arya. I glanced by the side to notice moisture forming in Arya's eyes, and her heroic efforts to push a lump back down her throat before it escaped into the world as a sob. I spoke up in her stead. "Took the scenic route. You look like you had a nice blender."</p>
<p>"Nice blender. Hah. Come on, I'm hungry, been waiting for ye slowpokes. I'll tell ya'll about me adventure over some grub." She grabbed our hands and led us inside. The mansion looked decrepit from the outside but from inside, it was a half ruin. If the mansion had any floors above previously, there were long gone. Rubble marked much of the right side, many boulders claimed by the Soldiers as their resting spot. The left side was relatively well-kept. Relatively. There looked to be some doors that were functional still.</p>
<p>Near the doors, I noticed Guard Captain Godard talking with another guy who looked to be in his mid-40s. He wasn't a muscle-head like the Captain, but he had muscles nonetheless - the toned and lean kind you get from doing outdoorsy activities. I guessed he must be the Ranger dude to lead the rescue. Also, Seline clinging to his arm was an obvious clue. She waved at us when she noticed us walking in. I nodded. Arya smiled. Carol waved back.</p>
<p>"How did you know we were coming?" Arya asked as we sat down on a makeshift ledge with our bread that had some manner of thick sweet sauce on it.</p>
<p>"Ah, the Ranger guy told me after they rescued me. He's quite something eh? Just like me tutor. How is he by the by? They knocked me out first, dunno what happened next until I woke up in a basement." She asked as she started tearing into her bread.</p>
<p>Arya looked at me, apparently hoping I would answer. I exhaled. There is no good way to deliver bad news. I decided to be blunt. "He's gone. They got him."</p>
<p>"Oh," was all she said, as her mouth stopped working on her bread. After several moments and a few deep breaths, she continued. "He was a good man. A lot I coulda learned from him. Figured he'd have disappeared. Looks like he stood and fought back."</p>
<p>"I'm sorry," Arya muttered from beside Carol and gave her a side-hug.</p>
<p>"Aye. Thanks. Knew him only for a couple days but still..." Carol let out a sigh.</p>
<p>"Do you know why they kidnapped you?" I asked, hoping to change the topic. The bread didn't look like it would last beyond the day, with how chewy it had gotten already.</p>
<p>"Nae, I was bound and gagged the whole time after they lifted me. And left alone in some damp room. Was knocked out again last night and woke up in here today." She replied, then gestured behind Arya. "By the by, who's the kid? Isn't he the royal one?" Then smirked at me. "Your princess's brother?"</p>
<p>"She's not my princess." "She's not his princess."</p>
<p>I murmured only to have Arya speak over me. Carol's smirk remained. I glanced at Arya, she refused to meet my eyes.</p>
<p>"Yes, his name is Phillipe. He snuck onto our carriage in what I assume to be a rebellion against his old man. Now about your adventure, if it accounted to you being knocked out and left to stew, why do you look like you fought a mud golem and lost?" I changed the topic again. I have been doing that a lot it seems.</p>
<p>"Hmm..." Carol seemed to debate over tease further or not, apparently deciding the latter, "Well they got me good the first time. But I gave fair fight the next time the bloody goons tried to knock me out again. Hurt my arm then. The mud was there when I woke so they must've taken some revenge of their own."</p>
<p>As I mulled over, I heard the prince whisper a question to Arya. "What's a mud golem?" Arya whispered back to him while I continued my conversation with Carol. "They wanted you alive. I wonder why?"</p>
<p>"Can't tell with these culty bastards. Me think they had some ritual prepared. I was prime for a sacrifice." She bit her bread with more force than necessary.</p>
<p>"I mean, that doesn't sound much like a campaign, story-wise at least." Now all three of them stared at me. "I mean like, you are summoned into the world and after barely starting your training, you are sacrificed at a ritual? Makes no sense."</p>
<p>"Pat, I think..." Arya started, "I think there is no storyline. We talked about it yesterday, right? These people are real. How can they be programmed?"</p>
<p>Carol nodded her head. "Aye, I think the same. After my recent experience, I have a hard time believing this be a simulation."</p>
<p>"B-But it is!" I stammered. There was no doubt this wasn't a real world. With the status windows and all. "Betty even confirmed it."</p>
<p>"Aye, I'd be doubting my sanity if I didn't remember the Tutorial. But maybe Betty was lying?" Carol spoke up.</p>
<p>"And even if the world is simulated, how do we know that the people inside it are as well? Aren't <em>we</em> inside the simulation? We are real, aren't we?" Arya supported her.</p>
<p>I had no counter to that. There was no way to prove if these NPCs... were not NPCs. Does that mean there is a chance for real harm to us? How does it translate back to our reality? Does Carol being sacrificed here mean she dies back home? No, Betty said we'd go back home if we die. But was she telling the truth? There is no way to verify that. But I doubt she was lying about anything. She was a chatbot; it is not easy to make them lie. Lying requires imagination, one lie begets another. Her words never contradicted one another. So this world <em>is</em> a simulation, but maybe the people in it aren't? Does that mean the Royal Mage dude really had it in for me? His action to cripple me wasn't scripted? That the maid chose to save me over hurting me was just an incredible coincidence? Holy Moly. I hadn't really processed the attempt on my life, considering it part of the storyline but... damn.</p>
<p>"You okay?" Arya's concerned voice came from beside me. "Yeah, just thinking stuff over," I replied off-handedly. "So assuming the NPCs are human and the whole thing isn't scripted, it means there are a whole lot of people out there who want and potentially could actually hurt us?" This can't be real.</p>
<p>"Aye, so it is," Carol whispered in a somber tone.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>After breakfast, the mood was still heavy on our group. Seline offered to show us around the city while we had the chance, given we would be leaving immediately after the horses had rested enough, perhaps a bit after noon.</p>
<p>So it was that Arya, Carol, Phillipe, and I trailed behind Seline out of the mansion and onto the streets of Galihad. It looked like the place had been repurposed entirely, from a teeming village to a military outpost. A dark smooth wall rose sporadically surrounding the buildings under construction. Most of them had a pure functional look to them. The entire site was being built from the ground up. Seline pointed over to a large mostly finished structure off to the right. A barracks, she clarified. The place was crawling with soldiers. It was one of the reasons it had been so easy to rescue Carol - the cultists had run straight into the metaphorical frying pan. Seline expounded on the matter more.</p>
<p>"They had no routes planned for emergencies. Idiots. And we found out why they wanted you alive, Hero. My husband had them interrogated after capture." She glanced back at Carol. "Seems like they had a deal with the damn Centaurs, of all things. The Centaurs need a Hero for who knows what, and the New Church decided it was as good as killing them off while making some dough on the side. Damned idiots."</p>
<p>"Why do the Centaurs want Carol?" I asked.</p>
<p>"Who knows what the stick-legs want? Maybe they wanted to chomp on some Hero meat, or maybe they wanted to raise her as their spirit Goddess and worship her?" Seline chuckled, as she led us to the outskirts where a new part of the wall was being raised. "All I can say is that it must be nothing good. They are already at war with us, taking out our Hero would be a good hit to morale, if nothing else."</p>
<p>I could agree with that. Standing in the shadow of newly build wall support, I glanced around curiously to see several Craftsmen - "Mason" as the system identified them - holding wands not dissimilar to mine over chunks of rocks and grit. Soon, whatever Skill they used changed the chunks of rocks into a grainy sludge, like a cement mixture. An Enchanter came over and burned a Scroll over the mixture, giving it a darkish finish that I've seen on several buildings.</p>
<p>"It needs to solidify more, into a jelly. Will be done in a day or so." Seline answered, noticing my gaze. "They will then merge it into a larger set and mount it up inside the wall support. Once mounted, they will cast another Scroll and the thing will stand for centuries." I noticed the men already standing on the aforementioned supports up high, pouring the finished product inside.</p>
<p>"Now isn't that something," Carol spoke softly, perhaps just as amazed as I was. We all kept staring as the men moved on to another chunk of rocks and repeated the process. That was until a man fell down into it.</p>
<p>I didn't realize what had happened until I noticed an arrow in his gut. I recognized Seline shouting something, but I felt like I was in deep water. I couldn't hear anything beyond a mess of gurgles. Even moving my finger felt like lifting a mountain. Nor could I detach my eyes from the blood now coloring the crushed rocks.</p>
<p>Suddenly my vision was filled with Seline's face. I groggily noticed her shaking me with urgency. "Snap out of it! You need to get to safety." She shouted. 'Safety? Are the cultists free? Where did the arrow come from?' She moved to my side, shouting the same to Arya. Arya instead ran to the injured man, apparently trying to heal him. Carol moved to cover her. Seline cursed. "I'm going to raise an alarm. You lot - GET. TO. SAFETY." She reiterated. "NOW!"</p>
<p>"He's gone!" Carol had a firm grip on Arya's shoulder. "We need to move!"</p>
<p>I looked from afar, as Arya nodded and stood up. She looked to be in a daze herself. I was still rooted to the spot, thankfully no longer feeling the pressure of the ocean depths. "You too, MOVE!" I heard Carol shout in my direction. I forcefully averted my eyes from the corpse and stared at the dirt road leading up back into the city. I took a step. I didn't realize until then how much I was shaking. I took another step, it was slightly easier than the first. Seeing Carol drag Arya ahead of me spurred me on. Soon I had enough motor control to start running, even though it felt like my muscles had turned to lead. That was when I heard the hooves.</p>
<p>We all stopped our dazed march and glanced back at the noise. A bit ahead of the wall's foundation, just out of the treeline, came in several dozen men riding on horses. Horses that had no heads. A closer look revealed that the men's torso was somehow fused into the place where the horses' heads would be. Weird as though the creatures looked, they were <em>fast</em>. Far faster than a normal horse. The men were wearing a light-brown sleeveless shirt - was it leather armor? And each had some manner of weapon equipped and unsheathed. And all of them were heading in our direction.</p>
<p>The sight was enough the turn my blood cold. What I saw next almost stopped my heart. The little prince was still standing there, staring at the bloody rubble. Right in the way of murdering horsemen. Apparently, Arya noticed him too, because I heard her screaming his name from behind me. She would never reach him in time. Not to mention Carol had pinned her to her place, despite Arya's best efforts to run back. I looked at Carol, she slowly shook her head. 'Nothing to be done? Leave him be?'</p>
<p>I grimaced in return, watching with a little amusement as her eyes widened. I was absolutely terrified, ready to wet my pants at any moment. So I turned and ran immediately before my survival instinct could raise any justification against my action. I heard my name mixed in the screams. 'Was it Arya or Carol?' I thought as I reached the frozen prince.</p>
<p>I watched the horsemen with a calm gaze that belied the emotional upheaval I felt. 'Heh, Centaurs. How did I forget?' I ran through the Spells I had, concluding that I had neither the power to stand against their number nor the time to raise any proper defense and make traps. I couldn't drag the prince away either, they were almost on us.</p>
<p>I kneeled down and embraced the kid, not knowing what else to do. Soon enough, the first Centaur came into my perception field. I tried to target him, but he was moving so fast that even my sensing skill was addled. Halfway through the field, I managed to lock onto him as he slowed after nearing me, and cast an incendio. He didn't seem to notice. I cast a petrificus and he sped up. Now he was close enough that I could stare into his beady black eyes like a horse's. He stared right back. I raised my hand, more as a gesture of defiance than any fire for a fight.</p>
<p>Time seemed to slow down. I could still hear the screams but they seemed like they were coming from miles away. The Centaur did not falter, instead raised his club-like weapon. 'This is it then? Looks like I will find out if Betty was lying after all.' I thought of saying something brave as my last words, but nothing worth saying came to my mind. Instead, I targeted the man's dark eye as he prepared for a swing. "Incend-" I managed to half speak before the world went black.</p>
Chapter 36 - Stakes2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2036%20-%20Stakes/<h2>Chapter 36 - Stakes</h2>
<p>It was a mother of all headaches that welcomed me as I came to. The yelling match outside wasn't helping in the least. 'I thought my days of nasty hangovers were behind me. What the hell happened?'</p>
<p>As my mind slowly gained awareness, I realized my ankles were bound tight by a frayed rope. There was a rough stinky rag stuffed in my mouth that I dare not move, for fear of lodging it deeper in. My throat was drier than desert sand. Lying down on the surprisingly cool floor, I looked around for clues to my current predicament. I noticed I was inside some manner of a large tent. The shouting outside has not subsided. Focusing on the clamor, I heard a female voice - piercing and shrill not unlike a woman who just found out her man has been entirely honest with her, and a calm male voice, sounding like a man who has had years to develop a wall of tolerance that would put a fortress to shame. Unfortunately, while my imagination filled in the gaps I still couldn't hear the actual words being spoken. Not for long though, as the voices seemed to be coming closer.</p>
<p>Not wanting anything to do with a couple-quarrel, I got up ready to sneak away. Or tried to, at least. Soon I noticed that my wrists were tied up as well. I was fully awake now, and everything that had happened crashed into my conscious as the god-freaking-damn honest-to-goodness pair of Centaurs walked in. I still couldn't believe they were real, despite one having thwacked my head to kingdom come. I pretended to stay asleep.</p>
<p>"I see you are awake, human." The same male voice as previous spoke softly. 'Ah well... There goes that budding plan.'</p>
<p>I moved some muscles that I hadn't used in years and managed to fumble only twice before I was in a slightly more dignified position of sitting on the dirt floor with legs splayed out, straining my neck up to look at the horse monsters staring down on me. The man - no, Centaur dude had a mask of stone for his face. I could barely imagine what he was thinking. The Centaur dudette, on the other hand, was boring a hole in me with barely contained fury and contempt. Funny I could read that despite her eyes being big round balls of black. Cute on small dogs and play dolls, terrifying on horse-human hybrids. Both of them were tanned and dressed to the nines in elaborately sewed clothes, supplemented by painted wooden and bone ornaments.</p>
<p>"Aaffoo" I send a 'Hello' through the rags. I quickly checked if I could target the constraints and slip off using Incendio, and felt a slight relief when I realized I could. 'Will have to wait for the right time.'</p>
<p>"Tyee, this cannot-" the female started, only to be stopped short by the dude, apparently named Tyee.</p>
<p>"Nina, please. At least wait until <strong>[Vast Ocean]</strong> Kai has had her attendance." The words got a bit jumbled when he spoke of 'Kai' like there was no translation for it. What I heard and what was said seemed slightly off, even though I was pretty sure the guy was talking in English from the way his lips moved. As I noticed the cracks in the simulation for the first time, the lady Centaur, Nina snorted - not in the horse but human way, and walked away with stomping steps. I doubted that was the last I saw of her.</p>
<p>The Centaur Tyee watched her walk away. Once she was out of the tent, he spoke up. "My apologies, both for her behavior and your treatment, this wasn't quite how I imagined I would meet a savior of our world. May I remove your bindings?" I nodded. Tyee then bent inhumanly and helped me stand up before un-gagging my mouth and freeing my hands. "I'm afraid I cannot reach your legs, you must untie them yourself," he motioned as I rubbed my numb palms. Soon I was free of the rope on my legs as well.</p>
<p>"My name is Tyee Tadako, I believe humans would call me a Medicine Man of Tadako tribe. I wish we had met under better circumstances." He did a quick bow. I bet Centaurs did core training since birth, no wonder each one had abs for days.</p>
<p>"I'm Pat. Mage. So what happens now?" I sent a quick Identify in his direction while he mulled over a reply.</p>
<hr />
<h3><strong>[Calm Wind]</strong> - Level ??</h3>
<hr />
<p>'Calm Wind? What sort of Class is that?'</p>
<p>"For now, I shall have some food and water brought in. Later, our... Seer Kai would like to have words with you. Please rest assured, no harm will come to you today." He replied. I nodded again, which he must've taken as assent to have refreshments brought in. So the Centaur trotted outside while I began to form possible questions I could ask him and plan for an escape, despite the persistent hammering in my nugget. As I watched Tyee leaving the tent, flap halfway concealing his human body outside, I wondered how their physiology even worked. Do they have the digestive systems of both a man and a horse? Yuck. Biologically, this anatomy made zero sense. My doubts over whether characters in this world were real edged back towards negative.</p>
<p>Before my thoughts could deep dive into that pit, I pull them back towards my current <em>life and death</em> situation. I was likely a prisoner of war, but they needed me for something due to me being a Hero. Perhaps I could leverage it and sneak away? But I need to know where I was first. Hopefully, not too far away from Galihad. I bet Carol & Arya are searching for me and Phillipe already. 'Phillipe? Damn it, where is the kid?'</p>
<p>I started to make way outside just as the flap opened and Tyee strode in with a large tray. I immediately rounded upon him. "Where's the kid that was with me?"</p>
<p>"I presume you speak of the young one that you held on to when the warriors descended? The colt is safe. Us Centaurs do not hurt foals. Our honor demands we meet warriors in fair combat, not little ones who have no glory yet." He handed me a mug from the tray, it was filled with water. "It was only you that the hunting party brought back. The 'kid' was left behind at the unnatural walls."</p>
<p>"I see, that's good then." I took a sip from the mug, after ensuring nothing visible floating inside, surprised to find it cool and refreshing. " I heard you guys wanted Carol. The... Scout Hero."</p>
<p>"Yes, and no. I requested a group of willing humans to set up a meeting with one of the Heroes on behalf of Kai. They mentioned a Scout-Hero, but any Hero would fill the requirement. I assume I must refuse them now that fate has brought another Hero here." He spoke wistfully. 'Does he not know?'</p>
<p>"They... They kidnapped her! Killed her mentor and dragged her day and night to hand-off to you lot!" I almost threw the mug in his face.</p>
<p>"Ah, I'm sorry. It was not my intent to harm anyone. Kai simply wished to speak and I requested the same from them." He did look apologetic, but it was hard to say.</p>
<p>"And why does Kai want to speak with a Hero?" I asked instead, taking another sip. My dry throat was setting down now, but it left the hunger in my stomach to raise its head.</p>
<p>"It is best if Kai herself spoke on that matter." He motioned towards the tray in his hand. I looked around for a place to put the mug but the tent was suspiciously empty of furnishings. I shrugged, put the mug down on the ground, and took the tray from him. It had what looked to be pieces of boiled sweet potato and roasted maize. I took one piece and tasted it. 'Yum!'</p>
<p>"Who were the guys you made a deal with? I thought humans and Centaurs were at war," I asked.</p>
<p>"On the whole, yes, we are. But not <em>all</em> of us fight <em>all</em> of them. Some among our tribes wish for peace. Many others seek glory instead. Most would rather not concern themselves with the war but our hands have been forced, so to speak. That being said, contacts outside of battle-field still happen." He lifted his front hoof and stamped it down. I wonder what it signified. "We helped the humans during the Goblin Wars when the horrid creatures sought refuge in our territories. Since then, several tribes have traded with the humans as well - their tools and scrolls for our crop and cloth."</p>
<p>"I see. I was given to understand that Centaurs <em>love</em> to fight, so why would anyone want peace?" I tried another piece.</p>
<p>"Centaurs warriors love to fight, yes. They seek glory. A worthy challenge. Humans, you fight for conquest. Take freedom from those who lose. It is not our way," he replied.</p>
<p>I had no response to that, mostly because he was right. I decided to ask something else that had been nagging at me for a while.</p>
<p>"So what's Nina's deal then?" I asked as I wondered how to attack the maize without looking like a savage.</p>
<p>"Please forgive Nina, she is... grieving." His hoof scraped the hard-packed dirt floor. "She lost her husband during the harvest when humans first attacked. And her son was injured in the last raid. It is not known if he will survive. She is not herself."</p>
<p>'So she hates all humans with a passion. Can't say I'm surprised.'</p>
<p>"I'm guessing she is not in the lets-make-peace faction." I decided to strike the maize as a whole. I was hungry and not one to stand on ceremony.</p>
<p>"No, she is not." He replied, all too seriously. "She was a wonderful woman once. Kind, playful, always with a smile on her face. But conflict and sorrow have changed her. Brought out the worst in her."</p>
<p>I stopped chewing for a moment.</p>
<p>"Her husband, my brother, was our chief. He wanted peace, but an assassin's dagger struck him in the dark of night. Nina regards humans as honorless tricksters. Now that her son lies injured, she holds the mantle as the tribe's chief until he recovers. Please do not respond to her provocation."</p>
<p>"Of course, I'm not one to ruffle feathers. Don't worry." I got back to the food and made a light conversation with Tyee despite the circumstances.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>It was late in the evening when Tyee brought me out of the tent. Just about an hour or so after I woke up.</p>
<p>My stomach was still full from the recent gorging session. If not for my brain banging against my skull, I might have been more curious about the ongoings of a Centaur settlement. I may have had a concussion. Where's Arya when you need healing?</p>
<p>As it were, I walked in a sort-of daze when I reached Kai's tent. It was more spacious than the previous one and more colorful to boot. And then I noticed two other Centaurs already present inside. Nina on one side, with her arms folded over her chest, and another who I assumed must be the Seer. She was <em>old</em>. Sparse silvery white hair tied up in a bun graced her hair. Her face had more wrinkles than skin. She was sitting down, her horse half draped in thick woolen blankets and her human half was perched on a big standing pillow on the side. It <em>looked</em> comfortable but I was glad for my human body where I could just lay down when I felt tired.</p>
<p>"Welcome, Hero. I am <strong>[Vast Ocean]</strong> Kai, a Seer of Tadako tribe." Her voice was soft as a whisper. She took a deep breath as if the words had taken some effort to speak. Yet the smile on her lips never faltered.</p>
<p>"Hello. I'm Pat. Nice to meet you," I replied. The "Vast Ocean" part still coming across weird.</p>
<p>"Tyee was generous enough to treat the bruising on your head, but he is yet to reach a stage where he can fully revert such a wound. Please allow me instead, can't have our guest without a clear head." Her eyes twinkled.</p>
<p>"No, can't have that." I smiled at the pun, "Please go ahead." She gestured me to take a seat, one already prepared for a human-sized posterior. After I sat down, she raised her hands and mumbled words which I assumed must have been a skill. The shine that escaped her hands was light-green in color compared to Arya's golden-yellow, but it worked a similar miracle. I felt as if I had just woken up from a deep refreshing sleep, headache long forgotten.</p>
<p>"There we go." Her voice was now slightly throaty with a slight quiver. Tyee rushed to offer her a mug of water. She took a deep quaff and spoke, "These old bones are no longer what they once were. Not too long ago, I used to heal a dozen Centaurs in a pinch and barely felt the drain." She took another deep gulp and handed the mug back to Tyee, who took it obediently.</p>
<p>"Kai, how much longer will this farce continue? We already have humans scenting our trail now. Let us finish this one and be done with it. Surely the loss of a Hero will be a great setback to them!" Nina interjected, barely sparing me a glance while suggesting my death.</p>
<p>"A farce, you say? Why, the very existence of our world is at stake." Kai chided Nina but then spoke kindly, "Child, I know you are hurting, and I know you seek revenge. But the outcome of this war has already been decided. We cannot escape our fates, little one."</p>
<p>"Then tell us, tell <em>me</em>, why must we not retaliate? They will keep on building their walled cities, and they will keep on taking more of our lands and lives." Nina begged, seemingly not for the first time. Kai lowered her eyes, her smile vanishing.</p>
<p>"Are you seriously asking us to just give up without any reason?" Nina stomped her hoof on the ground with enough force that I felt it reverberate in my bones. "These filthy humans, they march on our ancestral territories and claim it as their own." She jabbed a finger accusingly in my direction, "They sow lethal diseases in our midst, bring conflict among once peaceful tribes." Her arms opened up in a "come-at-me-bro" pose, "And you ask us to do nothing? We are proud Centaurs. Even if we must die, we die with weapons in our hands, our hooves covered in enemy blood."</p>
<p>"Nina-" Tyee tried to interject, only to be steamrolled over.</p>
<p>"No, I will speak my piece. You are our Seer, and I have great respect for you. But do not expect blind loyalty from me. I have a responsibility to the tribe. If you cannot even tell me why you banter with a human, Hero or not, then I must do as I see fit to ensure I do right by our people. I will <em>not</em> have us live as cattle in these enslaved lands that humans so politely call as <em>reserved</em>."</p>
<p>Kai now simply gazed at Nina, her eyes holding back unknown tides of sorrow and regret. Her hunched back bore more than just the burdens of age.</p>
<p>"I am chieftain of Tadako now. The tribes have already gathered for a war council. I make standing for the position of war-chief." She spoke in a voice filled with less spite but more iron. She turned her firey gaze to me. "Even if we lose all our territories as fate demands, I will make damn sure that the humans pay with their blood for <em>every inch</em> of it!"</p>
<p>With that, she stomped off again, leaving a heavy silence behind. Kai looked up at Tyee. He nodded and left the tent, presumable to check on Nina. Then her gaze turned to me, the twinkle of humor had left her eyes long ago. "My apologies for the poor show, Hero. A guest should not be witness to an internal quarrel."</p>
<p>"I- yeah, I understand. It's fine." I hurried to placate her, fishing for a topic. "So, the existence of the world is at stake eh?"</p>
Chapter 37 - Crypto Keys2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2037%20-%20Crypto%20Keys/<h2>Chapter 37 - Crypto Keys</h2>
<p>"Indeed it is so." Kai let out a sigh, "It concerns the Calamity."</p>
<p>"I see..." I nodded. I figured the main campaign would come bite me in the ass <em>some</em> day, but this was too soon. "What exactly is this calamity?" I asked, hoping I'd get a straight answer for once. "And people around here seem quite chilled out considering their world is about to end."</p>
<p>"The Calamity is... depravation manifest. It hungers for life itself, seeking to twist it towards a vile purpose. It consumes all it comes across from the smallest insect to the eldest tree. I have no knowledge of how or why it was unleashed, the spirits of ancestors answer those questions with silence. But they do say that it cannot be fought by mortal means. And that soon it shall cover the entire the whole world." Kai spoke with a heavy voice. "The people here, they are born distant from the horrors of the Calamity. They <em>know</em> what they face, for their ancestor pass the stories onwards, but they do not <em>understand</em> the terrible devastation of it. For them, it is a danger still far into the future, and the prophecy promises that the heroes will take care of it, so they have discarded all responsibility."</p>
<p>'Alright, alright. Forget about the NPC attitudes for now, focus on the main villain. So the Calamity is like a... Plague? Yeah, that's a good mental model. How is it spreading across oceans though?' I stared at Kai cradling what looked to be a ceremonial drum, giving me time to parse her words. 'Assuming it is a plague, it must be incurable even by healing magic for it to have affected so much. Must be magical in nature. And according to Francisa, the onset of this Calamity is marked by crazed beasts. So the plague turns everyone into monsters. If this hypothesis is correct, then it means the cure would be some magical anti-biotic spell. How does a dungeon factor into this then? Is the spell locked up in there?'</p>
<p>I looked up, Kai's face still graced by a patient smile. Guess I should enquire more about it now that I have a willing NPC spouting exposition. "How did the ancestors fight against it?"</p>
<p>"Oh," the smile dimmed on Kai's face. "They didn't."</p>
<p>"What do you mean?" Francisa couldn't be lying about her great-grandfather.</p>
<p>"Can a deer fight a cyclone?" Kai questioned me in turn. "Can a weasel stand against bushfire? No, Hero. They did not fight. They were simple fodder for the unending hunger."</p>
<p>'Weird analogies, but okay. This sounds less like a final boss and more like an apocalypse.' I gulped.</p>
<p>"So... How do <em>we</em> fight it?" I asked.</p>
<p>Kai smiled, more fully than she had before. Then showed me her colorful drum, like a child showing off their first sketch. "This artifact has been handed down through the shamans Tadako tribe since times immemorial." She caressed the vibrant red and brown covering, interspersed with thick black and yellow stitches - all faded with time. "The moment I held it in my hands, I realized I would be the last one of our tribe to carry it."</p>
<p>She set it down on the ground between us and leaned back to rummage through her back coverings. "Ah, there it is." She withdrew a small black knife with a bone handle. "The realization came with little sorrow, for I knew that the artifact held a greater value to the world than it did to me. Rather, I felt pride that I would finally fulfill the purpose that has been handed forward by my betters since ages uncounted." She clutched the drum again, gazing fondly at the instrument. "The spirits whispered of this moment, of when I would hand over the key to a Hero. I always feared, however, if it would ever come to pass, especially as the blood cooled in my veins with the years. For all their knowledge, they are not all-knowing."</p>
<p>"Wha-" Before I could finish speaking up, she plunged her knife into the drum, tearing out a segment across the diameter of the head. Then she placed the knife aside and plunged her hand in, apparently digging for something. Before long, she pulled out a bright white round object with golden filigree the size of a ball bearing. An insane number of Runes immediately lit up in my perception. I quickly threw an Identify at it.</p>
<hr />
<p>???</p>
<hr />
<p>'Just great. Thanks for nothing System!'</p>
<p>Kai handed the thingy to me. It felt like polished marble. Cold and hard to touch. It fit snugly in my palm. The golden circles were etched such that they didn't make any grooves on the white surface, making the entire thing incredibly smooth. The design was so advanced that I couldn't even make out individual Circles, let alone the minute Runes. After examining the supposed key for a while, I looked up at Kai. She noticed my attention and immediately wiped a morose expression that had crept on her face, putting the drum behind her and pointedly ignoring it. I decided not to comment on that, instead focusing on the reason I had been kidnapped.</p>
<p>"It's a key eh? What door does it open?" I asked, rolling the sleek stone in my hand.</p>
<p>Kai made a noise halfway between a snort and a laugh. "I'm afraid that is one puzzle you must figure out yourself, Hero. My role in this saga is complete." She looked forlorn but relieved all the same as if a great burden had been lifted off her back. "The ancestors speak of 2 more keys. They say: 'The Heroes must gather all three keys before the gateway is opened.'"</p>
<p>"I see," I thrust the key deep into my pocket. "Shouldn't there be some, I don't know, trial or something? You simply handed the key over, that didn't seem very..." 'How am I supposed to tell this granny Centaur about video games? That an important artifact like a key was not supposed to be just handed over?'</p>
<p>"Indeed, there will be trials for the other keys. However, circumstances forced the hands of my ancestors. My great-grandmother was a great Seer. One who claimed to have spoken with the spirit of <em>Lady Nostradame</em> herself! She was warned of the upcoming conflict and took measures to ensure that it would not hamper the Heroes' ability to eradicate the Calamity, which spreads wider even as we speak. One such measure was to secure the key into a treasure of the tribe. Another was to provide fore-knowledge of certain events and how to ensure that our race, and the world, survive to the end. Our meeting has long been in the works." She spoke at length and was starting to pant again. I offered her the mug Tyee had brought in and she shuffled on the pillow to get into another comfortable position.</p>
<p>I was again starting to feel as if all this was scripted, and the NPCs were somehow subverting the script. Could her ancestors peek into the future? "Can Seers look into the future?"</p>
<p>"Ha." She snorted her amusement. "Alas, no. The forewarnings come from the Prophet herself, or her spirit at least. A Seer seeks wisdom from nature and spirits. Our ancestors are especially vast fonts of knowledge."</p>
<p>'Should I mention that the world is fake? That all this is but a simulation for a test-run for some weird VR software?'</p>
<p>"You look troubled, young Hero." She watched without blinking, the twinkle back in her greying eyes. "Please, do not hesitate to ask something. After all, who knows when we might get such opportunity to speak freely again?"</p>
<p>"Uh... I was just wondering." I started. 'How to best put this?' "You know that us Heroes are summoned from another world, right?"</p>
<p>"Yes." She looked patiently curious, "Go on."</p>
<p>"So, this world. It just... You know. Doesn't seem real." 'Aargh, why is virtual reality so hard to explain?' "Like, what if I told you that it was <em>made</em>. And that everything in it is... not real. It <em>looks</em> real, scarily so, but isn't."</p>
<p>"Oh." She nodded thoughtfully. 'Now she must think I have a few screws loose.'</p>
<p>Then she took a deep breath and smiled calmly at me. "I often wander the realm of spirits. It is... hard to describe to someone who hasn't been there. Often, the rules inside don't make sense even to me. But be that as it may, I believe it is no less real than the physical world."</p>
<p>She gestured around, wondering if I was understanding. I nodded for her to continue.</p>
<p>"But it may as well not be. Who can say? My belief is merely based on my faith. So, young Hero, I say reality is ultimately a matter of perspective."</p>
<p>I was about to interject with an additional explanation when she spoke again.</p>
<p>"Imagine if you meet an entity one day, in your own world, and they say that they do not believe your world is real. What do you say to that? Are they wrong in believing your world is not real? Or are you wrong in believing that it is?"</p>
<p>That had me stumped. Either way, I realized it was useless to ask NPCs if they were NPCs. That brought me to another tangential matter.</p>
<p>"Regarding your Class name. How does Seer translate to the vast ocean?" I asked. They spoke something but it never translated well.</p>
<p>Kai eyed me up and down for a minute, her expression unreadable. "Vast ocean... yes, that is one of the meanings of the name bestowed upon me by the spirits when I ascended." 'One of the meanings?' "However young Hero, the question is, how did you learn the meaning of my Class name without a Status Crystal?"</p>
<p>"Uh..." 'Shit!' I didn't know what to say. I surveyed the inside of the tent, foolishly hoping for some justification to jump at me. 'Should I just come clean?' I hesitated in replying, cursing myself for the blunder. I dithered for a good while before I heard a chuckle. I glanced up and saw Kai smiling kindly. "We all have our secrets, my dear. Fear not, I won't pry into yours."</p>
<p>"T-Thanks," I exhaled out. The talk stalled for a bit until Kai had another sip and queried, "Would you tell me some tales of your home world?"</p>
<p>Soon we slid back into an amiable conversation as the sun slowly crested the horizon, the vibrant colors of the tent fading into shades of grey.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>It was not long after that Tyee trotted in. While Kai was greatly enthusiastic about varying topics and eager to let the conversation flow, even I could see that it was starting to take an increasing effort for her to continue doing so.</p>
<p>As Tyee laid another thick blanket over her shoulders citing a cold night, she idly mused. "Did you know that there is a vast landmass up north entirely covered in ice, Hero? It snows there no matter the season. And the winds seek to flay the flesh off your bones. Or so the tales go." She adjusted the makeshift shawl tighter around herself, then sighed. "Look at me, dreaming of icy wonders when my decrepit self can barely keep the nightly chill off with a dozen wrappings. It was a good conversation we had, Hero. But now it is time to let my infirm limbs rest. Tyee, be a dear and show our guest to his dwelling. Ah, and do return later, I must have words with you."</p>
<p>Nodding to Kai at my gentle dismissal, I followed Tyee out of the tent. The air outside bit into the skin even with my robes on, in contrast to the comfortable cool inside. Tyee glanced behind at me trying to shake the cold off. As I walked up beside him, he queried, "Why not use the Circle on your robe to ward the chill off? Do not worry, you are safe here. No need to conserve your mana."</p>
<p>"Ummm, sure." I wasn't going to acknowledge that I had totally forgotten about those. 'Did I even Identify them?' I ran a quick check on both the Circles. The one on my hood came out to be</p>
<hr />
<h3>Circle of Perception</h3>
<ul>
<li>Increases perception range by a constant 20% when supplied with mana.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Whoa, Neat!' I quickly checked my current range. Around 60 meters. I selected the Circle and pushed mana into it, doubling down on the feeling I had when I made the Stupefy Circle on the parchment. I didn't see the circle light up since I was wearing the hood behind but I <em>did</em> notice my range jump to around 70 meters. I stopped the flow and checked up on mana, down by 20. 'I guess I should check if the drain is exponential or constant. But later, for now, the other Circle.' I Identify'ed the other one, on the back of my cape.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Circle of Protection</h3>
<ul>
<li>Offers moderate protection against natural elements at a low mana cost</li>
<li>Offers small protection against mundane weapons at medium mana cost</li>
<li>Offers low protection against spell backlash at high mana cost</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>'Huh... So this works as a tiered subscription model?' I hadn't tried to manage the volume of mana flow before, only starting or stopping it and letting the Circle take as it needed. 'Well, guess there's a first time for everything!'</p>
<p>I selected the Circle and nudged some mana in, imagining a tiny rivulet seeping in. My visualization exercise worked apparently because the robe suddenly felt like a sweater that had been soaked in sunshine and warm hugs. I let out a slow breath, blissfully submerging myself into the feeling.</p>
<p>Before I knew it, I was standing in front of an unassuming tent, with Tyee standing by the side with an amused look threatening to break into his rigid countenance. The entire route from Kai's tent had passed with barely an incident. There wasn't even anyone wandering outside, no noise to assert the existence of an entire tribe living around me. Only the varied tents that now dotted the view affirmed that yes, they did exist.</p>
<p>"What, no guards?" I asked Tyee, more to ward off the eerie silence than anything. He took it more seriously than I expected.</p>
<p>"You are a <em>guest</em> here, Hero." He spoke firmly. "Not a prisoner, despite what the initial circumstances may have presented."</p>
<p>"So I am free to leave then?" I countered.</p>
<p>He hesitated, but to his credit, it wasn't for long. "Yes. You may leave at your discretion. I believe Kai and yourself had a fruitful discussion, so your presence is not necessary any longer. I wouldn't recommend fleeing in the night, however. I will have words with Kai soon, I am sure I will be the one to escort you back to your city come dawn."</p>
<p>"Is that so." I was planning to stay anyway. I had no clue where I was, nor was I strong enough to face the monsters on my own yet. Or gather food and water in the wild, come to think of it. I was a city guy through and through. Still, I'd rather brave the wilds than get stabbed in the back. "What about Nina?"</p>
<p>This time he hesitated for quite a while. I waited patiently by the tent flap, alternating the mana flow to the Circle. I found out that I need not supply it continuously, the heat retention inside the fabric was excellent. "Nina is a warrior with ample glory herself. Now that Kai has decreed you be treated as a guest, she will not bring dishonor by acting otherwise."</p>
<p>"Huh, okay. I'll see you tomorrow then Tyee. Goodnight." I bade my farewell with a smile and walked inside the dark tent. I noticed a fluffy construct of thick woolen blankets by the side. It did not <em>smell</em> bad and looked clean enough, so I plopped down and started experimenting with the mana flow volumes to the Circle on my back as I settled in for another long night.</p>
Chapter 38 - Of Monsters and Men2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2038%20-%20Of%20Monsters%20and%20Men/<h2>Chapter 38 - Of Monsters and Men</h2>
<p>Dreams of magical Runes and Circles haunted my night. It was still quite dark when I awoke to a nightmare of myriad screams.</p>
<p>I lifted the heavy covers off me and stumbled out of the tent allotted to me on the outskirts of the temporary settlement. The first thing I saw was the raging pockets of fire all around the camp, forming a grim contrast against the black of night. I focused on the Centaurs who were galloping about, some of them yelling orders. Perhaps to quench the fire.</p>
<p>I did not have any water Spells on hand, but I could pick a bucket like any other. I decided to lend a hand and was just moving towards the source when I noticed a few Runes light up in my perception. They were moving about slowly along the forest line, closest to the tent I just exited from.</p>
<p>While my perception skill let me identify magical patterns from a distance without my active input, I was unable to glean more information about anything else without having them in my eyesight. Thus, while I knew there was <em>something</em> sulking about, it could have been anything from a sneaky Centaur foal to a vellum Scroll riding the wind. So I moved towards the Runes, powering both the Circle of Perception on the hood and the Circle of Protection on my back. I had experimented enough to know that I could not supply a "high" mana volume. And when given a "moderate" amount of mana, it granted protection against both the environment and weapons. In the case of weapons, it simply "buffered" the attack - the soft fabric acting as a thick leather armor against sharp edges and force absorbent against blunt attacks.</p>
<p>As I moved towards the forest line, I felt the Runes move towards me as well. Soon enough, they were within my line of sight. I saw what looked to be two men garbed in standard Ranger uniforms, the same as those worn by Seline's husband and his team. We walked within talking distance of each other, and one of the men called out to me.</p>
<p>"M'lord Hero Sire, we came to rescue you. I'm glad you were up and about, saves the men from the trouble of searching through each tent." The grizzled old man spoke in a hoarse voice. He had a large grey-brown beard and his eyes seemed to exude relief. The other man, however, was lean to an unhealthy degree. He also had what seemed to be a perpetual frown etched on his brows.</p>
<p>"Uh..." I wondered how to tell them that I did not really need rescuing, the Centaurs were willing to just let me walk away. "Yes. I'm here now, so can you signal the others to withdraw?" Might as well cut the losses and leave, so they don't start more fires. My side quest here was complete anyway. Like I did with most NPCs I met, I almost subconsciously cast an Identify at them both.</p>
<p>"Yea, of course. Let me put up the flare, then we must be off!"</p>
<hr />
<h3>[??] Ranger - Level ??</h3>
<hr />
<hr />
<h3>[??] Assassin - Level ??</h3>
<hr />
<p>'Why is there an <em>Assassin</em> in the Ranger corps?'</p>
<p>I watched the lean guy silently move behind the Ranger, who was tinkering on some Runed device.</p>
<p>"LOOK OUT!" I shouted in vain, as the assassin plunged a dagger through the Ranger's neck before he could react. The Ranger dropped like a wet tissue, the Runed device tumbling out of his hands.</p>
<p>'What the fuck?'</p>
<p>While I was not struck senseless this time around, my mind still slowed down and refused to process the events happening in front of me. Fortunately, the assassin took his time toying with the device and extracting his weapon.</p>
<p>"Funny that," he chuckled, in a voice surprisingly low pitched. "He thought we were friends."</p>
<p>Somehow, his ridicule brought me back my voice. "What- Who are you? Why did you kill him?" I mentally went through the list of spells and ordered the best I could use against the Assassin. 'Just an NPC. A monster even. Nothing more.'</p>
<p>"Oh, where are my manners! You may call me... Jack. For the next few minutes while you live anyway." Another chuckle, the man did like to drone on. "As for why I killed him? Because I didn't want the distraction to stop as yet. I need a little more time. You see, some ranger <em>will</em> find you, those buggers can track a rabbit to the moon, I'll give them that. But all they will find is your cold corpse."</p>
<p>I stood still, the words washing over me like a frigid wind. I watched as the man pocketed the device and flicked the blood off the dagger. "Any last words?" He asked, the playful tickle inside his voice sent shivers down my spine.</p>
<p>"W-why?" I asked again, having chosen to use Incendio on his dagger to rid of it, Stupefy as a distraction, and Petrificus Slowly as the main attack. Then sprint back with all I had.</p>
<p>"Why? Oh, it's nothing personal. Just another job, you see. Courtesy of the New Church, or whatever they call themselves." He took a step closer, "The last job was to kidnap the red-haired Scout Hero." He looked at the sky as if reliving a particularly bittersweet memory, giving an indulgent smile, "I came <em>so</em> close to killing her myself! Not every day you get to slice a Hero's throat." He took another step to the side, gauging my reaction. I gave none, waiting for the right time to unleash all barrage of Spells. "But I'm a professional. So I gave her up to the Church as promised, despite my reluctance. Then imagine my surprise, when an outright kill order came for another Hero! I jumped at the chance. And so here we are." He took another short step, we were now close enough that I could see the demented glint in his eyes. His grin was lopsided, bordering on a smirk. It widened some more, "I guess it <em>is</em> a bit personal."</p>
<p>I took a step back. He sneered. I hadn't found a single instance where the man was off his guard. "Of course, fighting a Mage who has no Skills is a bit of a downer. And I see you have no Scrolls on you either. Exhausted them all leveling up? It won't be as much fun, but hey... A job's a job. A Hero's a Hero." The man took some manner of stance, the playfulness of his eyes replaced by something malignant. "And I'm a professional."</p>
<p>I wasn't going to get a better chance than this. I cursed myself for not acting immediately, as if a seasoned Assassin was going to leave an obvious opening for me to exploit. I targeted his dagger's handle and cast a few Incendios. Then I targeted his fingers on the dagger hand and the nose, casting a single Stupefy centered around the latter. Unfortunately, he moved before I could cast the last spell, moving into my blind side like a gale. I only found him out due to the crackle of Stupefy. At least he had dropped the dagger somewhere. He looked confused for a moment, perhaps wondering how I was casting a Spell. Only for a moment, however, as he immediately dropped low and started circling me. But that moment was enough for me to get the curse latched on. He moved in rapid unpredictable flow using trees as cover such that I couldn't pin him. I risked opening the Status Window to check my mana while keeping one eye on the Assassin. The mana was ticking down slowly. I needed more time.</p>
<p>"Why does the Church want me dead?" For some reason, bantering <em>during</em> the fight seemed off-limits to the guy. "You know if you kill us Heroes the Calamity will cover the world?" I pushed a wild conjecture. I shouldn't have bothered. Something came whirling at me from the side, I sidestepped just enough for it to avoid hitting a vital spot. I spotted a throwing knife embedded in the trunk of a tree I was making for, having sliced through the robe on my bicep. Thankfully, the robe took the majority of the damage.</p>
<p>I check the Status Window again, I was down to less than half my mana, the uptick now taking more than 60 units per second. The effect was taking longer than I hoped, I did not know how long I could last. Immediately after, Jack capitalized on the moment of my distraction and before I knew it, I was lying down in the foliage and had a dagger to my throat. He must have recovered it at some point.</p>
<p>"Well well well..." The Assassin smiled, his breath coming out in white vapor. The man loved the sound of his voice. I noticed a slightly bluish tint to his skin. "What interesting magics. This was fun after all!"</p>
<p>I wanted to do something, maybe burn the fucker's eye with another Incendio. But I knew he would slice me up before I even got a syllable out. I glared at the bloodshot eyes of my would-be murderer instead, the sneer back on his lips. He was about to speak something when he suddenly jerked away. An arrow landed with a thunk beside me.</p>
<p>We both turned in the direction the arrow came from. My savior came into view, with another arrow ready to shoot.</p>
<p>"Tyee!" I shouted and stood up from the ground. My robes were disheveled but I was unhurt as yet. My Status Window was still up, mana down to low double digits. The Assassin shivered a little but didn't look much worse for wear. He may have been putting up a false front, but I couldn't tell. Either way, my attack had failed spectacularly.</p>
<p>"Begone, honor-less cretin!" Tyee thundered. I had only seen Tyee the Medicine Man, calm and collected, polite in all ways if a little stoic. Tyee the Centaur Warrior was something else. His face was ferocity personified, his roar all but promising a violent death.</p>
<p>The Assassin muttered something about being a professional under his breath, then huffed out a breath that was such thick fog in the pre-dawn light it almost looked solid. But he stayed still and measured his words, "This chill will take me anyw-". An arrow sprouted from his chest before he could finish the sentence. "A warrior's death is undeserved by traitors who live by the shadows. May you be judged by your ancestors in the afterlife." Tyee declared.</p>
<p>I felt a tug that I hadn't experienced since the tutorial ended.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>We walked back to the camp at a leisurely pace. The fires had been suppressed while the fight went on. It felt like spare minutes to me but had been almost been an hour since I came into the forest. Of course, most of the time was spent burying the two who died, even with the absurd strength of Centaur's arms.</p>
<p>"How did you know where I was?" I asked as we crested the forest line.</p>
<p>"Kai mentioned this might happen. I had someone keep a watch on your tent." He spoke without looking at me. While he wasn't in the "fight mode" any longer, there was still something off about his demeanor.</p>
<p>"I see..." I wanted to ask more about what he and Kai talked about since it seemed it involved me somehow, but my words died in my throat when I noticed Nina pacing in front of the tent with a dark expression.</p>
<p>Nina stomped our way as soon as she noticed us. A large war-axe in her hand lifted threateningly.</p>
<p>"<em>You</em>!" she announced, dripping acrimony. She raised her axe to point at my forehead. "What have you to say to <em>this</em>? Attacking like sneaky rats in the night, setting fires to our homes instead of facing us upfront." She looked up at Tyee. "And what ludicrous instinct led you into the grove? Why did you seek this craven while he consorted with his ill-bred brethren?" She was fuming, her axe still pointing at me. She seemed to be fishing for an excuse to split my melon in half.</p>
<p>"Our <em>guest</em> was under attack by those very rats you speak of." Tyee stood between Nina and me and crossed his arms. Her axe wavered a bit as she went silent for a whole minute. When she spoke, her voice was barely audible.</p>
<p>"My son, your nephew..." She lowered her axe, deep sorrow finally breaking through the cracks of her undirected fury. "He was still in a stupor when-", she sniffled, "When the tent burned down on him."</p>
<p>Tyee said nothing. Since I was behind him, I couldn't see his expression. However, I could tell that Nina did not find whatever she was looking for. She dragged her sorrow back inside, fury galvanized into a countenance of forced resolution.</p>
<p>"The tribe will be moving North as the sun rises, towards the war council." Her voice was cold, axe held by the side with practiced ease. "The rat scum are hiding in the forest still. We must move before their main force descends on our camp." Then she glanced at me, "I cannot have a human travel along with us as we ride to war against them."</p>
<p>"I will go with him," Tyee stated calmly. There was still something weird about his behavior as if he knew something no one else did.</p>
<p>Nina's expression was a storm of melancholy and ire. She stared unblinkingly at Tyee, her front hoof itching to stomp the ground at her feet in vexation, and her knuckles white with a grip straining o the axe.</p>
<p>"Leave then. Never return." She announced and turned around to trample off into the distance.</p>
Chapter 39 - Wander West2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2039%20-%20Wander%20West/<h2>Chapter 39 - Wander West</h2>
<p>The Sun was shining high up in the sky like a spiteful overlord. I took another miserable step cursing my dark robe covering me head-to-toe. I wondered if desert rules applied here. I did not dally long, however, as the Centaur set an unrelenting pace.</p>
<p>"Tyee, slow down, please. My human legs can only go so fast!" I called out for the third time since we set off.</p>
<p>"Hmpf," he snorted from up ahead, "Perhaps a small break is in order."</p>
<p>I rejoiced in my head and followed him to a shade under a withered tree nearby. The landscape was scarily similar to the semi-arid levels of the Tutorial, although thankfully absent of any monsters so far.</p>
<p>"Do you think we lost them?" I asked after taking a sip from the leathery water bag.</p>
<p>"Perhaps. The human rangers are as famous for their tracking skills as Centaurs are for their hunting. They will track us until and unless we make it nigh-impossible to do so safely." He replied, declining my motion of the waterbag towards him.</p>
<p>"Is that why we are headed west?" I looked up towards the mountains piercing the clouds far ahead. "Towards the Dragon Peak?"</p>
<p>"Yes," he followed my gaze, "There is a buffer of uncontested land between the Tadako hunting grounds and the Dragon Peak. It is mostly inhabited by various monster species, especially closer to the sierra. We won't head deeper there, only cruising along the edges to make tracking us difficult."</p>
<p>"I see..." 'We will use monsters as our shields.' But one statement struck out. "Hey, why are there more monsters closer to the Peak? Shouldn't they be further away from the Dragons?"</p>
<p>Tyee looked at me. I saw him amused for the first time since last night. "They see the lands in our direction as courting death since our hunting bands frequent these parts. The Dragons, however devastating, rarely come down from their high homes. So that region is relatively safer for the monster population." I opened my mouth to ask another question before he forestalled me with a raised palm. "Rest. We still have a long way ahead."</p>
<p>I acquiesced, sitting down with my back against the sturdy trunk and Tyee trotted off examining the flora around. Before I closed my eyes, I decided to take a look at my Status Window, expecting a level up from the Assassin.</p>
<br />
<hr />
<h3>[Master] Mage - Level 21</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Status</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Health</td>
<td>965/965</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mana</td>
<td>2870/2870</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stamina</td>
<td>34/107</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Experience</td>
<td>398/2200</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Attributes</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Strength</td>
<td>22</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vitality</td>
<td>22</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility</td>
<td>22</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dexterity</td>
<td>23</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence</td>
<td>34</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Perception</td>
<td>31</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdom</td>
<td>27</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Special Effects:</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Magic Boost - You get extra Intelligence, Perception, and/or Wisdom points on every Class Upgrade.</li>
<li>Hero's Boost - You get 100-300% extra experience.</li>
<li>Test Subject Perk - Unlock special areas.</li>
<li>Other Worlder Perk - Immune to perpetual illusions and mind control Spells.</li>
<li>[Master Mage Robe] Augment Perception/Wisdom (active) - You get a major reinforcement to casting and defense.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<br />
<p>'Finally, my health is reaching the 4-digit mark now! Far cry from the measly 100 that I started with. Now, how about my spell repo?'</p>
<br />
<hr />
<pre><code>
# 10 mana
identify o = echo o
# 150 mana
incendio x = (( x.temperature = x.temperature * 2 ))
# 150 mana
petrificus_totalus x = (( x.temperature = x.temperature / 2 ))
# Exponential mana; Deadly! killed the pather within minutes
petrificus_slowly x = while true; do (( x.temperature-- )); done;
# Haven't tried yet
incendio_slowly x = while true; do (( x.temperature++ )); done;
# Exponential; helpers
create_low_point l = while true; do (( l.potential-- )); done;
create_high_point h = while true; do (( h.potential++ )); done;
# High exponential cost; does not damage much but very good distraction
stupefy xs = i=0;
for x in xs;
do
if [ $(( i % 2 )) -eq 0 ];
then create_high_point x;
else create_low_point x;
fi;
let i++;
done;
# Low exponential consumption; beautiful to look at.
lumos hr lr = create_high_point hr && create_low_point lr
# Takes far too much mana; no-op so far
hack_pass = i=0;
while [ $i -le 255 ];
do
echo "$(get_char $i) $(get_time)" >> password_hack | sudo -S echo;
let i--;
done;
# Helpers
get_char i = printf "\x$(printf %x $i)"
get_time = date +%s%N
</code></pre>
<hr />
<br />
<p>I bitterly removed the tail-end comment for petrificus_slowly, it didn't seem so deadly anymore. My repo was starting to resemble a hacked-together shell script. 'I wonder if I could modularize things somehow?' That experiment was for another day, however, as I opened my final quest list window that I had mostly neglected.</p>
<br />
<hr />
<ul>
<li>
<p>Main Quest</p>
<ul>
<li>Escape simulation
<ul>
<li>~Complete tutorial~</li>
<li>Find exit.
<ul>
<li>Related to a dungeon somehow.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>Side Quests</p>
<ul>
<li>Extract core password</li>
<li>~Create new rune~</li>
<li>Defeat the calamity?
<ul>
<li>Looks like an infection.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<br />
<p>I cleared the completed tasks and added "Study mysterious Key" to the list, which seemed interesting enough to warrant a separate entry. I decided to work on a new water-related spell next, no need to forage around for streams or depend on dwindling stale leather bags while out and about. Maybe add an earth spell to the arsenal as well? 'That will complete all the base elements at least, eh?'</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Wondering about how to use water spells had me stumped. Perhaps using the rocks would be easier? I had unfortunately lost the only reference book I carried with all the goings-on. I decided to postpone any deliberation on that, instead choosing to make small talk with Tyee who was gradually starting to speed up ahead. Again.</p>
<p>"Hey!" I called out. He slowed but didn't look back. "So, what did you talk about with Kai yesterday?"</p>
<p>He slowed to crawl, then asked carefully, "What?"</p>
<p>"You know, last night. Kai said she had some words for you. Isn't that how you knew to keep watch on me? What else did you guys discuss?"</p>
<p>He stilled as if trying to maintain his breathing constant. "Why do you ask?"</p>
<p>I was getting a bit weirded out. I just wanted to make a conversation but somehow had stepped on a landmine. "Um, just curious. Never mind."</p>
<p>He exhaled out his breath, shoulders sagging a bit. "We all have our burdens to carry Hero." 'Yes, very mysterious, but doesn't mean much.' "Besides, we're here."</p>
<p>I looked around, hoping to glean some idea of where we were. It was late afternoon, so the Sun wasn't so sweltering anymore. A mild breeze struggled to lift my robes, the sparse vegetation around us swaying slightly. The scene, although pleasing, wasn't different from what I had been seeing ever since dawn.</p>
<p>Tyee snort-chuckled, then pointed in distance at a tall grey-brown tree that had more branches than leaves. 'How does a tree like that even work in this climate?' I wondered but noticed movement among those branches. A beak protruded from the foliage, followed by the rest of the patchy feathered mass. 'A vulture!'</p>
<p>"We have arrived at the edge of untamed lands." He pulled his bow out with a graceful flourish. "Beware" he declared, "For there be monsters here." Then he notched an arrow, a slight smile dancing along his lips, "and it is hunting season!"</p>
Chapter 40 - Evolution2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2040%20-%20Evolution/<h2>Chapter 40 - Evolution</h2>
<p>The world was on fire. And I knew it was so for me.</p>
<p>I walked towards the forest line, following the Runes lighting my way as they cut a path through the blaze.</p>
<p>I headed beyond and saw Arya smiling warmly at me from a distance. "We came to rescue you," she spoke in a hoarse voice quite unlike her, "saves the trouble of searching through each tent".</p>
<p>A dark-robed Assassin had sneaked behind her. "LOOK OUT!" I shouted and ran towards her, a litany of spells ready on my tongue. However, I knew it would be too late even before I opened my mouth as if her death was somehow pre-destined.</p>
<p>A dagger plunged into her throat and she dropped to the ground like a puppet with strings cut. Carol raised the hood covering her face and took her time removing the dagger. She flicked the blood off and chuckled, "She thought we were friends."</p>
<p>Before I knew it, I was lying down on the foliage with Carol holding me down with her knee on my chest. "W-Why?" I croaked.</p>
<p>Her face turned grotesque with a malevolent smile I had never seen on her before as she answered, "Because I'm a professional," and thrust her dagger into my throat.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>I woke up with a jerk, my hand twitching to ward off an attack that never came. It took me a moment to calm myself, taking in the cold air of the pre-dawn morning. Eventually, I got up from my resting place by a sturdy tree. The robes I was wearing were a blessing in these circumstances.</p>
<p>"More bad dreams?" Tyee questioned from the side, as he rummaged inside the side-bags to produce a water bag. "Here. Fresh from the stream."</p>
<p>"Thanks," I murmured, taking in deep gulps. I decided not to comment on the question. Bad dreams were not new to me, even before coming to this world. Thankfully, mine never turned into full-blown nightmares. Yet the nature of dreams had changed. In my homeworld, they were mostly nonsensical. Pertaining to weird entities that I often wondered where my brain conjured up from. Out in this world, however, the dreams mostly revolved around me being chased by outlandish monstrosities with a hunger pang. Today was the only exception.</p>
<p>I returned the water bag to Tyee and stretched as the Sun peeked its head in the horizon behind us. "So what's the plan for today?" I queried, enthused for what the day held despite the rough start.</p>
<p>I had been traveling with Tyee for close to a week. Granted we were taking a bit of a circuitous route to destinations unknown, but the time spent was well worth the gains for me. I was just shy of level 25 now, and even Tyee claimed that that was when the real fun started. Not in those words exactly, he said something along the lines of "foals becoming worthy of glory" but I got the gist. Level 25 was a turning point more pronounced than ever before. That the humans considered level 20 as a baseline seemed to amuse him.</p>
<p>"I noticed tracks of a Dark bear when I went out to restock." He started packing up the stuff from last night. He usually took care of our camping needs, food and water supplies, threats lying in wait, maintaining our equipment, and so on. Basically, everything. I felt like I was on one of those expensive camping trips where others did all the hard work and you enjoyed the barbeque. That was not to say I was idle, however. Aside from the aforementioned tasks, Tyee took time to train me. And boy did he run me ragged.</p>
<p>Even on the edge of these "untamed" lands, the monster population was nothing to scoff at. We encountered many simply by trekking along. Some Tyee tracked down on his own, considering them worthy hunt or some such. Suffice to say there were a <em>lot</em> of monsters here. And we fought every monster. Every. Single. Monster. This was looking less of a hunt and more of a massacre. And now? We had a Dark Bear to murder.</p>
<p>"What's a Dark Bear like?" I questioned. While the name did evoke images of a black bear, I had learned not to make assumptions when magic was involved. Just the day before, we encountered an emerald-green snake that had leathery wings and fired projectiles of venom whom Tyee called a "Feathered Serpent". It had no feathers. Identify gave it some weird name that I wouldn't know how to begin to pronounce. 'This world is supposedly based on Earth but it looks more like someone took pieces of facts and fiction, mashed them together, then threw them around and called it a day!'</p>
<p>"As the name suggests," he started, and I resisted an urge to throw in a barb, "it is a bear that uses shadows. Unlike the Great Spirit who crushes foes with might and valor, Dark Bear sneaks around and catches its prey unawares. It is fairly weak in direct combat compared to its kin but no less deadly when on a hunt." I mulled over that as he finished packing up, "and we must make haste if we are to chase this one. Their tracks are exceedingly difficult to follow unless they are recent enough."</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Do you notice those markings on the tree?" Tyee asked. We were standing near the stream where he filled the water bags earlier in the day. I strained my poor eyes and peeked at the nearby trees. After an embarrassing amount of time where I refused to ask his help while he stood amused watching me dither, I finally noticed them. The wood looked like it was kissed by a chainsaw. The reason it was so hard to notice was the shadows of the tree cover made the marks somehow blend in.</p>
<p>"That is not a territory mark," Tyee remarked, taking a closer look as he continued his lecture. "Dark bears are monsters. They make no home, claim no brood." He move on ahead, apparently finished with the examination, "And as I mentioned before, this one is close by. Be on your guard." He already had his bow out.</p>
<p>We meandered upstream for a while. I noticed a couple more marks on the way, but I was pretty sure I missed more than I sighted. Tyee had gone silent, having asked me to keep quiet as well. I was absorbed in finding more markings, the camouflage they created was intriguing to say the least. That was why I was mildly surprised when Tyee halted in his course.</p>
<p>I looked up at him. He glanced back, raised a finger to his lips, then gestured away from the stream into a particularly thick clop of trees. I nodded and sneaked behind him, taking care not to step on any twigs. After going a little distance inside, Tyee stopped again and removed an arrow from his quiver. I witnessed the cause of Tyee's caution: A pitch-black shaggy bear the size of a pony. It was just out of my range, so I boosted my Circle of Perception and cast an Identify.</p>
<br />
<hr />
<h3>Nyah-gwaheh - Level ??</h3>
<hr />
<br />
<p>'At least show me the skills or something!' I groaned. Tyee had notched his arrow and was looking at me. I boosted my Circle of Protection and nodded back to him.</p>
<p>Over the course of the week, we had fallen into a typical fighting routine. If we were the aggressors, we would pepper our target from the range with arrows and spells. Most monsters fell early on to Tyee's headshots. If they were to run, my curses came in handy. Should a rather tough one engage us close-quarters, Tyee would discard his bow and use his sword instead. He also had a small hide shield that he used sparingly. If the fight did become a melee, I was to either find a suitable range to fight back from or run and hide till things calmed down. I was pretty proud of the fact that only once did I run back in all our fights so far, from a horde of mole monsters that had overrun our camp by surprise from underground. Nasty buggers. Either way, I was to not get close to any monster if I wanted to survive.</p>
<p>I looked at the bear, lazily giving itself a back rub on the poor tree. This area was pretty disadvantageous to Tyee, with trees sticking close to each other not leaving much space to maneuver. Not to mention the thick umbrage above would work in the shadow monster's favor. That would be the first advantage I would remove. I did my pre-fight checkup.</p>
<p>Mana? Check.</p>
<p>Target? Check.</p>
<p>Protection? Check.</p>
<p>Escape Route? Check.</p>
<p>I raised my hand. I did not need to, but it was meant as a signal to Tyee that I was about to cast. I always attacked first, to ensure that even if I did not get another attack in later, I would get <em>some</em> points from the kill. The first spell I cast these days was one of the curses. I did try incendio_slowly, but it was a sort of letdown. Effects on most of the monsters of this place were ambivalent at best.</p>
<p>"Petrificus_slowly," I whispered.</p>
<p>The bear immediately stopped its leisure activity and sniffed the air. It did not find us, we were still quite far off. I decided to attract its attention. I choose a pebble near the bear, who was still sniffing about.</p>
<p>"Lumos," I chanted and watched my mana drain increase. I was not done, however, as I selected the bear's snout and the pebble's outer layer. "Stupefy," I finished and watched the show unfold.</p>
<p>The bear seemed unaffected by petrificus, so that was a bust. But I was used to my spells being hit or miss now, that is why I always laid multiple layers instead of depending on one.</p>
<p>The pebble eventually started emitting a low light. The bear's attention, however, was focused elsewhere. I used the mana volume trick to force-feed the spell, making it glow as bright as a bulb. In the shadows, it stood out quite well. The bear plopped down on the ground, as I reduced the flow. The pebble, despite glowing low now, had arrested the bear's attention.</p>
<p>It growled deep in its throat, a sound that carried even as far as we stood. I watched with fascination as shadows coalesced around the monster. Just for kicks, I made the pebble grow brighter in response. It growled again, baring its teeth this time. It marched closer and closer to the pebble, extremely cautious in its approach. That was working in my favor, as the potential difference just kept on increasing with time.</p>
<p>Soon, the bear came close and tried to paw at the light. The pebble just rolled away. The bear followed, its curiosity overwhelming its caution. It sniffed at the thing, wasn't satisfied with the result. It brought its snout closer to sniff again and that was when my spell went off like a firecracker.</p>
<p>The bear jerked back, the shadows dispersing back to normal. Before it could fully recover from the "shock", an arrow sprouted from its eyeball. Tyee the Centaur had made his presence known.</p>
<p>The bear roared and immediately set off at a terrifying pace in our direction. I was slightly surprised that it was still kicking with an arrow inside the noggin. I didn't let my surprise hold me back though, because I immediately climbed the tree I had designated as my escape route.</p>
<p>After finding a fairly high up and thick branch to perch on, I brought my attention back to the fight. Tyee had discarded his bow and held his sword in a parry stance. His shield wasn't out, so he must be quite confident against this one. The bear on the other hand, was coming in fast with a grudge to settle.</p>
<p>I felt no strain on my mana, so all my spells had finished. I waited for the moment when the bear would slow, so I could target and cast another spell on it. Then I realized it was too fast and too well hidden. It was hard to discern where the bear ended and the shadow started.</p>
<p>So I chose a different strategy. I selected a number of small rocks and pebbles within a dozen meters of Tyee and also selected his sword. And I cast Lumos on <em>all</em> of them. The mana drain was so intense that I almost buckled. But boy was it worth it.</p>
<p>The bear, now a shadowy monstrosity, came crashing into the suddenly brilliantly lit clearing. Tyee, on the other hand, had positioned himself for a quick thrust he often employed against unsuspecting opponents, his sword glowing mildly like a holy weapon. The ground beneath their feet was alight with glowing white luminance, fighting for dominance against the creature's shadows. The entire scene looked straight out of a painting. I felt like I was looking <em>down</em> on Sistine Chapel.</p>
<p>It did not last for long, as the thrust went through and the bear was downed for good. I watched as the bear shuddered and took its last breath. I felt a feeling tug at my mind. It was different somehow, not a normal level up. Something... more. I instantly pulled up my Status Window and stared dumbstruck at the text.</p>
<br />
<hr />
<h3>Select Class Evolution</h3>
<hr />
Interlude - The Lightning Thief2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Interlude%20-%20The%20Lightning%20Thief/<h2>Interlude - The Lightning Thief</h2>
<p>"Hey Tyee, I got Class Evolutions!"</p>
<p>Tyee looked away from the corpse of the young Dark Bear towards the Hero who was climbing down from the tree.</p>
<p>"Congratulations."</p>
<p>The human was a bundle of contradictions. Exceedingly smart at one moment, incredibly naive at another. He had had dealings with human scum before, much to his chagrin. They had no honor, they chased no glory, their actions were without valor. It seemed to be a similar case with his charge as well. Similar, but not the same.</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, the Hero seemed uncomprehending of the words themselves. Unlike the other humans who understood but discarded these notions, his charge simply couldn't fathom them. Like a week-old foal. Unfortunately, his unending curiosity did not guide him to these virtues.</p>
<p>Neither had he known a human to be so blindly trusting of a Centaur before. As if the war between their species was a mere spectacle on the side. Perhaps trusting was not the right word? Ignorant, maybe? Like now, when he was throwing up the secrets of his Class like a smoke signal to the world. Perhaps it was the difference of being from a different world.</p>
<p>"Here's option one: Battle Mage."</p>
<p>Tyee froze. Thankfully, he was already standing still and the Hero was otherwise engaged. Battle Mages among humans weren't rare, but they weren't common either. But it wasn't Battle Mages themselves that mattered, it was those that ascended above from there. Now <em>those</em> were rare.</p>
<p>"What's the next after this? War Mage? Pff. Useless."</p>
<p>The Mage Hero snorted. And just like that, his incredible insight and alarming ignorance were laid bare once more. There hadn't been a War Mage among humans since the last one died over a decade ago, but just about all creatures on Alteraz had heard the horrific tales of the destruction wrought by that one human. <em>He</em> exterminated the Goblin tribes. <em>He</em> pushed back the faeries that overwhelmed human forces down south. <em>He</em> brought the other beast-kin to heel. <em>He</em> brought together the human clans that now sought to conquer the rest of the region. If a War Mage was to be bred amongst humans today, their war was as good as lost. And yet, Tyee couldn't bring himself to lie to the Hero.</p>
<p>"It is a powerful Class."</p>
<p>The Hero looked up at him, eyes clear. Tyee suspected the Hero had stashed a Status Crystal inside his robes but he hadn't brought it up.</p>
<p>"I mean, yeah. It sounds powerful. But it's sooo generic. Like, couldn't whoever was in charge think of a better name at least?"</p>
<p>Tyee, as usual, ignored the gibberish tirade. He had quickly grown to sidestep the equally gibberish explanations that followed as well. Kai would've been amused, he was sure, but he himself preferred to be grounded in reality.</p>
<p>"Are there other options?"</p>
<p>To think there were other options besides an already powerful one. It was rare among the foals to get multiple choices, they usually started riding in one direction immediately after getting their Class from the crystal, so there aren't any surprises later on.</p>
<p>"Hmmm, a Spell-Maker."</p>
<p>Tyee's breath caught in his throat. Spell-Maker was a Class supposedly restricted to humans and Elves. And according to Kai, there hadn't been a Spell-Maker among the humans for <em>centuries</em>. It was not overtly devastating like a War Mage, but knowledge had a power of its own. And to hear Kai say it, it was a power to change the world. Amongst the Elves, Spell-Makers were downright <em>revered</em>.</p>
<p>"Seems kinda redundant to me." The Hero-who-could-be-Spell-Maker spoke lightly.</p>
<p>"Redundant?" Tyee echoed back. His shock at the reveal still abetting.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I can already make... spells..." The human looked up at Tyee, presumably from his Status Window. He had blurted out another one of his secrets but at least seemed to realize his mistake immediately. For some reason, Tyee felt his heart fill with pride at that.</p>
<p>"How do you make Spells?" Tyee asked.</p>
<p>"U-Umm, Hero-stuff, ya know? Hard to explain." The Hero stuttered. Tyee decided not to pursue the chain of conversation any further. It was a surprise for him too, that his charge was a Spell-Maker all along. Nor did he know what to say any further. Instead, he changed the topic.</p>
<p>"We should skin the bear, its hide is quite the prize." Tyee motioned towards the dead creature. The starry glow on the ground had subsided since, but it still felt surreal to be inside of a charm like that. Not that Tyee showed it on his face.</p>
<p>The Hero looked away, even now averse to skinning and gutting prey.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I'll just stay... over there."</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Tyee finished setting up a new campfire. It was relatively safer here in the thick copse. The fire wouldn't be visible from far. And with the Dark Bear's marking still covering the region, not many monsters would follow their curiosity.</p>
<p>"Holy Shit!" the Hero exclaimed in between his mutterings.</p>
<p>Tyee looked up, still searching for the flints. He was sure he had put them in his right back pocket.</p>
<p>"What is it?" Tyee queried. The Hero wasn't prone to such loud outbursts.</p>
<p>"I chose the Battle Mage path," he said as Tyee suppressed a shiver, "and the amount of volume I can push at once is <em>insane</em>!"</p>
<p>The Hero excitedly stood up from his seat on a fallen log, gesturing wildly. "Like... imagine I had a bucket worth of mana to use. Earlier I could only pull from it with a straw. And now? I can throw the whole damn bucket!"</p>
<p>Tyee was not sure of what a straw was, but he got the gist. "So you made your choice then?" Tyee's cold hands finally found the flints. They gripped with more strength than necessary.</p>
<p>"Not much of a choice, eh? I mean, I thought about it for so long, got all info, weighed all the pros and cons, but anyway..." The Hero waved the question off. "It's like the System is confused about what to do with me. Lol. Hey, shall I start the fire?"</p>
<p>Tyee nodded his assent. The Hero helped when the flints were being stubborn. Which was almost every time.</p>
<p>The Hero raised his palm.</p>
<p>"Um, can you back up a little?" His charge worried needlessly. Tyee had seen his previous protracted efforts in lighting the fire. In his opinion, the flint was more dangerous. Despite that, he backed up and watched as the Hero focused.</p>
<p>"Okay, here we go." He took a deep breath and spoke in a clear neutral voice, "Incendio!"</p>
<p>For a second, nothing happened. And suddenly the entirety of the timber stack blazed in a yellowish-orange inferno. Tyee took several steps back, his eyes wide. A vision of his tribe's camp on fire flashed before his eyes for a quick moment. He watched as the conflagration quickly but steadily leveled out to a normal campfire. Then he stared at the Hero while Kai's words echoed louder than ever before.</p>
<br />
<p><em>"For our world to survive, a Hero must endure." she spoke wistfully, cradling her favorite artifact. Tyee noticed she stressed <strong>a Hero</strong> on purpose. "I was expecting the Scout Hero, but perhaps fate has other plans."</em></p>
<p><em>She turned to him, as he noticed the giant tear on the otherwise perfectly maintained instrument. "However, we cannot simply bend to the whims of fate. We must take charge of our own destiny."</em></p>
<p><em>Tyee agreed but did not speak up. His elder wasn't finished yet. "And so, Tyee child, I must place a heavy burden on your back."</em></p>
<p><em>"The Mage Hero is still low-leveled. Not unlike one of our colts. I..." She coughed, then took a small sip from the mug beside her. "I believe he has the potential to become our greatest ally or our greatest foe."</em></p>
<p><em>Tyee took a breath, knowing that the next words were what Kai had been driving towards. "Circumstances will force you to flee. When you do, flee west, towards the Dragon's roost." She raised a hand to pre-emptively cease his questions, "and see for yourself if the Hero is worth our trust. If he is, then it will be your duty to ensure he lives. If not," Kai traced her aged fingers over the tear, the weight of the world on her brittle back, and spoke so softly that Tyee almost missed it, "then Nina shall have her revenge."</em></p>
<br />
<p>The human Mage Hero, his charge, his responsibility in more ways than one, was gawking at the fire with a half-open mouth. In no way did the man's visage look evil, but Tyee couldn't steady his erratic heart. Kai's pitying gaze as he left her hut finally made sense.</p>
<p>"FUCK. ME!" The Hero jolted from his self-inflicted amazement. "Did you see that? Daaaamn man!"</p>
<p>Tyee was sure he could have seen the flames even if his eyes were on his rump. Before he could say anything, the Hero raised both his hands and pointed at a distant boulder. "Alright, I still have enough mana for another one. And I don't even need a physical target anymore! Watch this, it's gonna be <em>awesome</em>! I can already feel it."</p>
<p>This time, it was no clear dignified voice that came out of the Hero's mouth. Even with Tyee's limited knowledge of human emotions, he could see that the human was clearly giddy.</p>
<p>"STUPEFY!" the human shouted, and stood still for a few seconds. Then the world went white. A deafening impact resounded along with it, taking his hearing as well. Out of instinct, Tyee went in battle stance and pulled on his Healing Skills.</p>
<p>Within moments, his sight was back. He noticed the smoking ruins of half of the boulder spread around it. As if a bolt of lightning had struck the boulder from the skies. No, a lightning <em>did</em> strike the boulder, except the Hero had stolen it from the skies for himself.</p>
<p>Then his hearing returned, only to notice the Hero laughing menacingly...</p>
<p>"MUAHAHAHAH.... UNLIMITED POOOOOOWEEEEER!"</p>
Chapter 41 - Home is where the heart is2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2041%20-%20Home%20is%20where%20the%20heart%20is/<h2>Chapter 41 - Home is where the heart is</h2>
<p>The Class Evolution window brought the "fuck-all-mages" attitude of the creators back to the fore. I was given an option called "Spell-Maker" with the ability to, well, make new spells. That's all. No hand-holding, no references, no debugging, nothing more. At least, nothing I couldn't do already. And so I chose the only other option I had - Battle-Mage.</p>
<p>Not that I regretted it.</p>
<p>There were three major improvements that I felt immediately. First, my spells were cantrips no more. Merely brute-forcing the amount of mana I could assign to a spell turned what was earlier a static tingle into a current that could fry a monster's bones off. I had only called two functions so far, but I was down from over 4000 mana to high 900s. I was pretty sure I was being extremely inefficient with how I was using it, but I still couldn't believe the devastating power I now held. The "high" level of volume that I needed for magic backlash protection on my robe's Circle and couldn't produce earlier was now the "default" setting. The only downside of this was that my mana was being gobbled up pretty much instantly when forced.</p>
<p>Second, a more subtle improvement came to my perception. While earlier I needed to target something physical - either solid or liquid, to latch a spell on to, now I didn't need <em>anything</em>. I could literally target any point, region, or volume in space and attach my spell to it. I tried this out when I used my Stupefy. I selected a big rock as a target of low potential and the space in front of my hands as that of high potential. Then I immediately insulated both so their charges could build up without external influence, similar to the trick for Lumos. Then after feeding as much mana as possible into the spell, I created channels between the space and rock that behaved almost like super-conductors. And boom! Now that I was not chained to select a physical target, the applications were only limited by my level of creativity.</p>
<p>Finally, the most frustrating of the bunch: I now had access to some environment variables. But I didn't know which ones. I <em>knew</em> that I had access, somehow. And yet the information was being held back from me for no fair reason; another "screw-you" from the System. With a sigh, I pulled up my Status Window for the nth time:</p>
<br />
<hr />
<h3>[Novice] Battle-Mage - Level 25</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Status</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Health</td>
<td>1240/1240</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mana</td>
<td>2984/4340</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stamina</td>
<td>198/218</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Experience</td>
<td>109/2600</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Attributes</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Strength</td>
<td>26</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vitality</td>
<td>26</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility</td>
<td>26</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dexterity</td>
<td>27</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence</td>
<td>48</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Perception</td>
<td>40</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdom</td>
<td>37</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Special Effects:</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Magic Boost - You get extra Intelligence, Perception, and/or Wisdom points on every Class Upgrade.</li>
<li>Hero's Boost - You get 100-300% extra experience.</li>
<li>Test Subject Perk - Unlock special areas.</li>
<li>Other Worlder Perk - Immune to perpetual illusions and mind control Spells.</li>
<li>[Master Mage Robe] Augment Perception/Wisdom - You get a major reinforcement to casting and defense.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<br />
<p>Among the "minor" improvements was the absolute jump in mana capacity and regeneration. I had over a thousand more mana than I expected and my mana was regenerating faster than my <em>stamina!</em>. I wasn't sure I liked this path of glass cannon, but I wasn't saying no to freebies.</p>
<p>I noticed a significant boost to my range as well, about a hundred meters all in all. And now it recognized more magical signatures beyond just Runes. While I wasn't at the point of "sensing mana" as it were, any significant magical object or creature lit up immediately.</p>
<p>That included all the monsters.</p>
<p>When I brought this up to Tyee, he cautioned me not to rely on it too much. Higher leveled monsters could hide themselves from magical scrying.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Speaking of Tyee, his weird mood from back then had returned full force. I was torn as to how to bring the matter up again since I was effectively shut down the previous time. I decided to throw a tangent.</p>
<p>"So... you're not married yet I take it?"</p>
<p>That brought him out of his gloom quickly but failed to amuse as I had hoped. His glum look remained.</p>
<p>"No," he replied and was about to go back to his brooding. I dearly hoped I had not poked a sore spot.</p>
<p>"Not found a gal yet? What's your type? Sharp hooves, fluffy tail, some such?" I continued poking.</p>
<p>Now he was staring at me, a mildly confused look overtaking his features.</p>
<p>"I..." he hesitated, but quickly recovered. "It matters not. I have dedicated my life to my path. Besides, now is hardly the time for anyone to be getting married." He muttered at the end.</p>
<p>"Huh?" I wondered why that could be. 'Is there a specific season for Centaurs mating?' "Why not?"</p>
<p>Tyee stared at me for five whole seconds, then spoke as if speaking to a child who has trouble understanding - "Because of the war."</p>
<p>"Ah... Right." To be honest, I had forgotten about it. While the cut-scenes of the incoming horde, the firey camp, and the subsequent attempt on my life were memorable enough, I tended not to dwell on them too much. I was stranded in some random side-quest anyway, so I figured my involvement in the Centaur War was apparently done with. 'Heh, Arya would've given me a long lecture about thinking this a game again.'</p>
<p>The thought of Arya brought the memories of my companions, and that quickly led to the memories of my family and friends back at home. The warmth of the campfire did little to offset the cold that settled in my heart. While I was out and about, numerous distractions called my attention away from these thoughts. But at quiet moments like this, my mind couldn't help but wander back home. A twig broke off of a burning log with a crackle and fell deeper into the smoldering fire.</p>
<p>"Hero," Tyee unexpectedly spoke up in a whisper. I looked up, to see him sitting down awkwardly next to the log on my side. I had never seen him sit down before. I simply watched him, giving him time to gather his words.</p>
<p>"Kai is a great Seer." He stared up at the sky, nostalgic for some reason. "No matter how many times she puts her ancestors up on the pedestal. In fact, she just might be the greatest Seer to ever ride amongst the Centaurs."</p>
<p>"Oh..." I replied. I had no context so I decided to simply listen.</p>
<p>"And she saw what awaits our people. This war..." his beady eyes now bore into mine, "it will shatter the tribes apart. It has already started. Tribes fight against tribes while humans goad, loot, and kill with impunity. No more glory, just unending greed. No more gallantry, simple base violence. Diseases already curse our kin, our harvest lessen every season. More of our warriors have died in the last year <em>alone</em> than ever before."</p>
<p>He took a slow breath, calming himself down. His gaze hadn't left mine though.</p>
<p>"And this is just the beginning. You are a human, a Hero even. A beacon of hope for your species, if not many more. A Master Battle-Mage can rout a hunting band on his own. And I doubt your strength will stop there."</p>
<p>"Oh..." I repeated, this time with more clarity. 'But they won't rope the Heroes into this conflict, will they? We're here to stop the world-ending calamity after all!' Even I didn't believe myself. Tyee stared at me, leaving me to figure the rest out for myself. I was at a loss for words and with his eyes burning into me it didn't feel like the time for lax pondering, so I started monologuing hoping it'd take me somewhere.</p>
<p>"You know, Tyee, the place where I come from? My homeworld?" I started, gazing fondly at the fire recollecting distant memories. "We have no magic there. I mean, not the literal magic like in this world." I glanced at him, making sure he understood. I continued after a while, taking his silence as his assent. "But there is a different sort of magic there. Our species started off by bumping rocks together to make sharp weapons. Now thousands of years later, we taught those very rocks to bring us to the moon." I glanced at him again, hoping he could grasp the sheer wonder of it. I saw his eyes widen a bit. I wish I could tell him about all the insane scientific achievements we've had but he had no background to understand it. "I was one of the many who worked on such... intelligent rocks. They connected our world beyond anyone's wildest thoughts, gave up access to information of a scale never before, opened up countless possibilities to even the most mundane of us that even a century earlier only the very best and most opportune amongst us could scarcely begin to imagine. A million years of violence, after conflicts that would numb even the hardiest of your warriors, and at the end of it, the most peaceful period in human history. I was born in such an era."</p>
<p>I hadn't planned on going on such a ramble, but words simply sprouted unbidden from my lips. Now I fumbled around to make a point.</p>
<p>"Not that there isn't <em>any</em> conflict, that would be a lie. But most of us don't live our lives on the edge anymore like you all do here. Bloodshed is not a daily part and parcel of our lives. That is all to say, I am first and foremost a man of peace. Or rather, I am <em>not</em> a man of war. I have never even been in a fistfight before coming to this world, you know? I just... I was brought here against my will. This place is - well, the magic is nice, but there is no upside to this place. No offense. I was content with my life back home. I miss my dog. I miss my ride. I miss my bed. God, I miss the food so much." I chuckled, "Not to mention everyone and everything I know and love is back there. I've been looking for a way back ever since I've arrived, you know? I would consider my time here a nice vacation at most."</p>
<p>Tyee was silent still. I realized my disjointed exchange had somehow become an outpouring of my feelings. The cozy campfire mood had affected me more than I expected. I decided to shoehorn a conclusion for his sake.</p>
<p>"So yeah. I just wanna go home. This place isn't for me. Seems like defeating whatever this Calamity is, is the way to do it. After that? I'm gone. Not involved in any war or conquest."</p>
<p>He was staring at me still, and it was starting to get creepy. 'At least give a nod, dude.' After a solid minute of me wondering if I should speak up or not, he exhaled a deeply held breath.</p>
<p>"So be it." He said and got up. He started packing his stuff up.</p>
<p>"Tyee?" I got up from my log, wondering what he was up to. "What's going on?"</p>
<p>He did not pause packing but answered nonetheless. "The Rangers, they did not give up their pursuit." He rolled the cleaned but still-raw Dark Bear hide and slid it in one of the bags by his side. "Our gambit failed, and now they are close. We have nowhere left to run. We must split up here, I'll distract them away. You may rest now but leave before dawn and head southwest. You humans have a big fortress upon the mountains. It isn't much further from here."</p>
<p>I stared at him for a second, mouth agape at the sudden change in plans. The thought of pursuers had escaped my mind. "Surely not all of them must be here to kill me? We could just talk to them. If not, we could fight them together." I argued. "How am I going to survive all alone in this monster park? What was the point of us running away if I'm going to die anyway?"</p>
<p>Tyee stopped his packing and turned to glare at me. I glared right back.</p>
<p>"What were you expecting to happen, Hero?" I blinked. I hadn't thought of that either. This place was making me stupid. Or was I not taking things seriously enough? Treating everything as a game subconsciously? "Whether they continued pursuit or left midway, the aim was to bring you to safety. We cannot risk speaking or attacking them either. The fortress is where you will be secure. And I cannot follow you there. Our path was to end like this no matter which trail we followed."</p>
<p>Of course, applying even a little bit of brain would've led me to a similar conclusion. Tyee's gaze softened.</p>
<p>"The humans who seek your death, I was the one who contacted them to set up a meeting between Kai and yourself. I am aware of their connections through another tribe. They plan their schemes from the cities in the east." He dropped an info-bomb that I did not know what to do with. "That is another reason why we headed west." He came close and put his large calloused palm on my shoulder. I looked up to saw a rare smile on his face. "I've done all I can for you. But <em>you</em> are the Hero, after all. And all that comes with being one is yours to deal with alone. Besides, you are a Battle Mage now." He raised his hands and gestured around, smile morphing into a grin. "Out here, on the edge of untamed lands, it is the monsters that should be afraid of you."</p>
<p>He turned around, walking far enough away that the light of the campfire barely constructed a silhouette. "Here and now, I bid a good hunt to you, Hero. I will go back and beseech Nina to take me back in, our tribe cannot afford to turn away the only medicine man we have, given the circumstances." I couldn't see the smile on his face but I could feel it become morose. "I hope for your success in stopping the calamity. And I shall pray that you live to see your home again." With that, he turned away, vanishing into the night.</p>
<p>The previously cozy campfire now had only dread and loneliness fighting for dominance.</p>
Chapter 42 - A Proper Mage2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2042%20-%20A%20Proper%20Mage/<h2>Chapter 42 - A Proper Mage</h2>
<p>"PETRIFICUS_TOTALUS!" I shouted, and flash-froze a labrador-sized lizard with shark-like teeth. The last of its group that had swarmed me. Of course, I was already aware of them due to my new radar powers and had taken down two before they even realized they were under attack.</p>
<p>The sun was high up in the sky, straight above my head. This was the second group of monsters that I had engaged with since I left the camp in the morning, all on my lonesome. I encountered a lot many of them, but mostly I just hid or detoured.</p>
<p>I took shelter in a nearby tree shade, after making sure no monsters lurked nearby. The trees had grown more numerous and green as I traveled. Pulling the waterskin out, I drank the last of its content. Half the water had been wasted on cleaning some of the grime I accrued from the earlier encounter. Not having Tyee to distract the monsters was leaving me fighting them off in closer range than I would like.</p>
<p>Despite the circumstances, I felt I was making good progress. I did not put my "full-force" behind each attack, starting from attacks with twice their normal mana, then moving up from there as necessary. And I never faced any monster without preparing a set of "Rune Traps" first. I had not revealed this trick in front of Tyee for fear of reprisal. Stupefy was my new favorite trap and also an emergency fall-back Spell if any unlucky monster got close enough. My eyes glanced over the charred remains of the scaly creature that had stepped into my Circle of Stupefy.</p>
<p>The mountains seemed to loom ahead on the horizon as always, giving me little sense of how close I was. GPS and Map would've been very helpful. Hell, even some landmarks and a compass would've been appreciated. I closed my eyes and relaxed, unintentionally letting the waterskin fall from my grasp down into the dirt. 'Right. Water.'</p>
<p>I was not technically tired, simply wanting to get away from the sun. And with nothing to distract me, this seemed like a good opportunity to explore my new abilities in depth. And I would inevitably need more water.</p>
<p>'So... a water spell.'</p>
<p>I pulled up my repository and started with a test function like usual:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">create_water_test =
</code></pre>
<p>'Alright, I remember watching some documentary about the desert. They were taking water right out of the air when it condensed.'</p>
<p>I already had a spell to lower the temperature, and now I could select any random volume in space. That seemed to fit the bill perfectly for the job.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">create_water_test v = petrificus_slowly v
</code></pre>
<p>I selected a small golf-ball-sized sphere over my palm and muttered "create_water_test".</p>
<p>Less than a minute later I could feel the cold air grazing my palm. While there was no magical droplet of water in the sphere, it did start condensing on my skin.</p>
<p>I smiled, a step in the right direction. But that was the easy part.</p>
<p>I needed water to drink, and clean myself if I had some leftover. Having a couple of droplets was a start but I needed enough to fill the waterskin at least. And fast. It was unwise to linger in one place for long.</p>
<p>I figured the simplest way to condense more water was to occupy a bigger volume. I had a rough sense of how big a volume I could target - closer to a 10 by 10-meter cube. That restriction would hopefully not be an issue.</p>
<p>'Now, how to pull all the condensed water vapor into the waterskin?'</p>
<p>I thought back to Betty's spell, where she utilized gravity to elevate herself. I figured I'd give it a try.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">pull_down x = while true; do x.gravity--; done;
</code></pre>
<p>I selected a loose leaf from an overhanging branch. "pull_down" I whispered. The leaf stubbornly stood unmoving. I also verified my mana points, they were regenerating quite well without any noticeable dip.</p>
<p>'That's a bust then. What next? What other environment variables should I try? Elevation worked last time, maybe brute-force it? It might work on a leaf, but I doubt it will work to pull a large volume of gas into the waterskin. Maybe I could move the waterbag through the condensed air instead?'</p>
<p>I briefly considered the documentary again. They had a large plastic sheet that had a stone or some weight in the center to guide the droplets into a mug they placed below it. I was trying to do something similar, but also not. My water vapor would be cold and ready to shift phase, but there wasn't a plastic sheet handy for that to happen. I needed to pull all the air into and through the waterskin, where it would fill up.</p>
<p>'Alright, forget environment variables. What else?'</p>
<p>I was in a simulation. A virtual reality. I remembered some tinkering I had done with a 3d game engine years ago. And the more recent work on browser canvas APIs.</p>
<p>'All objects occupy some space on a co-ordinate system.'</p>
<p>A flood of new ideas was let loose, I let my mind grasp those concepts and apply them in this context.</p>
<p>'Alright, on the canvas at least I knew the absolute coordinates of each entity. Here, I have no clue. Hmm... so relative it is!'</p>
<p>I selected the same leaf again, now swaying in the slight breeze but still clinging on.</p>
<p>'So, if I want to pull it into my hand, I'll set my palm as the origin. x, y, and z coordinate set to zero.'</p>
<p>Starting from my palm up towards the tree, I selected a cone-like volume with the leaf just inside the flat base.</p>
<p>'Oh right, need to update the function!'</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">pull_down o = while true; do o.x--; o.y--; o.z--; done;
</code></pre>
<p>I did not know the esoteric mathematical equations needed to pinpoint the position of the leaf inside the volume, but I did not need them. Since I was reducing its coordinates to zero, it would move to my hand no matter where it was.</p>
<p>I had a pretty good feeling about this one. The system seemed to consider "intent" when parsing functions, and since my functional logic was flawless, I did not expect to fail.</p>
<p>"pull_down," I spoke up, keeping my palm as steady as possible.</p>
<p>The leaf stopped swaying. I noticed my mana regeneration slow down but overall mana kept increasing. The spell didn't seem so mana hungry but was taking far too long to produce any effect. So I forced it along by adding 100 mana to the process.</p>
<p>The leaf immediately tugged free of the branch and slapped down into the ground beside me instead of my hand. So much for "flawless" logic. But it didn't diminish the joy in my heart. The system may have kept the abstraction of environment variables hidden from me, but I was not above getting my hands dirty with some low-level hacking. "Heh, take that!" I kicked the leaf at the imaginary creators. It merely tumbled away, free of my magic.</p>
<p>"Right, back to the main task! Need to account for negative co-ordinates."</p>
<p>I modified the water function to pull condensed vapors in at the point.</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">
pull_down o = while true; do
if [[ o.x > 0 ]]; then o.x--; fi;
if [[ o.y > 0 ]]; then o.y--; fi;
if [[ o.z > 0 ]]; then o.z--; fi;
done;
create_water_test v = petrificus_slowly v | pull_down
</code></pre>
<p>My mana was above 3000 now, I decided to go all out. Picking up the waterskin from the ground, I stood up and held it in my hand, then selected a conical area again, but now as big as I possibly could.</p>
<p>"create_water_test," I almost shouted, and poured a thousand mana into the spell. It was perhaps a tad bit too much, as immediately, super-cooled air squeezed into the waterskin and threatened to blow it away like an errant balloon. I used my other hand to support it from below, and it stood safe despite making a whining noise from all the air whooshing in.</p>
<p>It went on for several seconds, and I noticed my hands numb from the cold. So numb that I had missed the glistening drops of water falling from them, forming a damp circle in the dirt below. It slowed down after a while, and I activated my Circle of Protection as well. 'Next time, I should activate it <em>before</em> starting the experiment like a sane person.'</p>
<p>My hands warmed down pretty fast after that. And I noticed a heft to the waterskin I was holding. It was perhaps quarter filled. I took a cold sip. I wasn't thirsty but boy that felt good! Sweet rewards of hard work.</p>
<p>Of course, the next step was to change the names of the functions, something I dreaded and loved in equal measure. It was easier this time, as I actually remembered something related.</p>
<p>First, I renamed my "pull_down" function, then used it with the Latin word for water to make a cool sounding spell:</p>
<pre><code class="language-sh">
accio o = while true; do o.x--; o.y--; o.z--; done;
accio_aqua v = petrificus_slowly v | accio
</code></pre>
<p>I could already imagine the scary reusable utility of accio. There was already a half-formed idea of using it to hurl huge molten boulders at monsters. 'Perhaps something to "push" as well?' Instead of reducing coordinates to zero, I would simply increase them, moving all objects in a volume away from whatever I designate as the origin. Not unlike a "Universal Push". I snickered. 'Perhaps stick to a single naming theme?' A thought for the future anyway.</p>
<p>I tied the waterskin to a rope that I had fastened around my waist, as a belt of sorts. The sun had slid slightly ahead and to the right. Still unceasingly hot and right in front of my eyes. I deactivated the Circle of Protection, my mana stooping below 1000. But without any active spell, I watched it climb back up in great strides. I pulled the hood over my eyes and settled in the now lengthy shadow of the tree.</p>
<p>Alone. Truly alone for the first time. I wasn't <em>scared</em> per se. But I was loath to take even a light nap. Having people around did wonders for anxiety. Not that I was anxious yet. But I knew time was not on my side. Sure, the water situation was resolved, but food was still an issue. I had enough rations to last me a couple of days, four if I stretched. Hunger would hold me then. 'If only there was a way to magic food!'</p>
<p>I couldn't rest as I had hoped. I kept scanning the landscape actively every few seconds for magical movement, fearing I might miss it if I wasn't paying attention. All a monster had to do was get in range to bite me. And not all monsters need a bite to be lethal. Even with all the power I had, the situation was quite ridiculous. 'I need a shield spell or something.' For now, I did plan to have the place wherever I camped absolutely packed with Circles from all sides, but that didn't seem like a sustainable strategy. 'Maybe something that could create a dome of protection or a barrier? Perhaps an instant escape route as well, like teleport or something?'</p>
<p>The new ability was letting my inner nerd out. I already knew teleport was possible, having done it once. But it likely messed with numerous environment variables and required privileges not accessible to me. I touched briefly on the other tele-like spells. Telepathy I discarded, for now, something like the message crystals would be useful instead. Another thought occurred. 'Holy... am I capable of telekinesis now?' Technically, I could only pull and push stuff. But since I could specify in which direction that would happen, that might as well be the real deal. The smile on my face returned. I was resembling a proper mage now. I decided to abandon the idea of resting and got up, continuing my solo travel. Hopefully heading in the right direction.</p>
Chapter 43 - Of Might and Magic2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2043%20-%20Of%20Might%20and%20Magic/<h2>Chapter 43 - Of Might and Magic</h2>
<p>'"Not that further ahead," he said. "Just a little to the southwest, right on the mountains," he said.' I let loose a tired exhale, glaring at the orange light that spread out over the distant mountain range, the sun having bid goodbye just a while before. 'Would it have hurt to go into a <em>little</em> detail of how further ahead?'</p>
<p>A human fortress in the mountains. I was pretty sure he meant the High Passes, as the humans called it. The one Francisa mentioned provided passage to the western side of the continent. I had pictured it as a trail among the mountains, not a proper fortified position. 'Oh well, I hope they have stairs.'</p>
<p>I took another sip from the waterskin. I tended to keep it filled since mana was cheaper than water. While I could not fill it fully in one go, the regeneration more than made up for it. I let the bag hover by my side using accio, as I tied it to the waist rope. It was a bit scary how I was used to having magic already.</p>
<p>I boosted the Circle on my hood and stretched my perception out, actively scanning for magical signatures. Technically, it was not necessary as they would be detected automatically. But I had formed a habit of doing so anyway. It helped settle the mind, in a way. I did not notice any monsters nearby. Well, except the ones I was about to rain hell on.</p>
<p>I grimly noted a pack of hyena-like monsters sniffing and heading my way, cautious but unerring. With detachable jaws and teeth like a saw, that I feared were lifted straight from the Resident Evil movies. I first noticed something trailing me a few hours ago. The creatures were going in the opposite direction back then, eastwards. But as I made my way further and further in what could be called the start of a forest, they had changed direction.</p>
<p>So I decided to hunt them instead.</p>
<p>From my perch on a fairly high tree branch, I got a clearer view of their visage for the first time. 'Yeaaah, these are carrying the virus for sure.' But the thing I had not noticed before struck out - up close, these creatures were barely the size of large house cats. Identify showed their level at 17. And something about a parasite in special effects. For all my precautions, these things were <em>weak</em>. But they were in a swarm of about a dozen, so I didn't take any chances. 'Fingers crossed they can't climb the trees.' Of course, if they did try to climb, they were in for a nasty shock.</p>
<p>The first of the creatures came close enough that I could see it's wet snout sniffing the air. 'Just a couple more steps bud, come on.' As if encouraged by my words, it did just that. And was immediately blasted backward, its ragged corpse colliding with a tree with a sickening crunch. 'Even a halfway charged Incendio is nasty!' The other creatures, instead of running away like sane animals, chittered loudly and sniffled harder. 'I guess that is what makes them monsters.'</p>
<p>Monsters or not, they had <em>some</em> intellect, as they avoided the blasted area and spread around in a loose semi-circle instead. 'Hehehe, I had <em>hours</em> to prepare. As if I was gonna face you without artillery on my side.' I had made use of every single minute of those hours, spreading mundane to complex traps just about everywhere I could think of. Unfortunately, while I could select any space now, I still needed a solid surface to draw my circles. Large surfaces worked the best, like tree trunks, bounders, and the ground itself. Smaller objects tended to disintegrate more often than not. I sensed another critter coming close to a trap I had experimented on for the first time.</p>
<p>As soon as it laid a paw inside the Circle, it was jerked up into the air and thrown away. As if erupted from a cannon. It squealed in surprise as it happened, the sound progressively diminishing until it was so high up that it was a mere dot in my vision. I admit It was a bit funny. I had used a sort-of "reverse accio" Circle, forming a meter wide conical shape at the ground that pulled anything inside towards the origin, which was high up in the air. Momentum helped throw further, gravity did the rest. I did not hear a thud as the thing landed somewhere far out of my range, but I was pretty sure it was a goner.</p>
<p>Well, that was two out for the count. The rest were lurking around, as if hesitant to approach further. 'Come on, I have more than a dozen Circles around.' I wanted to see another cannon-ball performance but unfortunately, that Circle was out for the count. Just like the Incendio one. I made my Circles by brute-forcing mana into them for magnified effect, so they needed more mana than usual to recharge. Rendering them effectively single-use for me. Of course, other mages might find it better to use the pre-made Circles instead of wasting Scrolls, but it was a moot point for me.</p>
<p>I idly selected another region, one that occupied three of the hyenas and its origin hovering over another experimental Circle. "Accio," I whispered and put half my mana into it. The poor chumps were immediately pulled, one striking against a tree on its path to doom and falling unconscious. The three collided in a heap; one squealing, another chittering, and the last one silent. The spell ran out and they dropped, the trap instantly activating. With a loud whoosh, the air surrounding became super-heated and pulled into the center of the trap, along with those trapped inside. And then a boom, as it blasted out. The leaves of the surrounding trees wobbled in the sudden breeze, and the others of their pack gazed at them with strange attention. Unfortunately, the trap was a bust. All three were alive. At least two were, given their wild chittering. I glanced at my mana again, 'Over a half remaining.' I made sure to top off before engaging, and while it was fun to watch them stumble about, there was always the risk of something worse coming and trampling over all my traps. So I moved the show along.</p>
<p>The two chittering hyenas immediately noticed the pebble I had strategically placed at the center of Circle of Stupefy, now glowing due to my Lumos. Both raced towards it, and as luck would have it, reached at the same time and got slapped in the snout by what was probably a thousand volts of pure energy. Suffice to say they were as dead as one can get, skin still sizzling in the aftermath.</p>
<p>Lumos did not take as much mana anymore, so I was still hanging on around half my stores. I contemplated pulling big spells on the remaining ones or taking them out systematically. I was still lost in thought when there was a sudden loud crash somewhere in the depths of the forest behind me. All the hyenas sniffled the air once and uncannily turned tail as one. I scanned, but couldn't sense anything even with a boosted perception.</p>
<p>There was a deafening roar that shook the trees themselves. <em>Something</em> was around, but my perception wasn't picking it up. The roar was answered with another, a lower-pitched and deeper roar that set my bones vibrating. 'Right, not all monsters can be scanned. Fuck.'</p>
<p>The pandemonium was closing in on my position. I took a split-second decision and scrambled down from the tree, intent on absconding the hell away. I moved smoothly from amongst the several strategically laid Circles and set off running in the direction away from both the unknown roars and the hyenas. I had just about left the area when I heard another almighty crash and all my Circles lit up simultaneously.</p>
<p>I risked a look behind, turning only for a second to get a glimpse of the creature enough to cast an Identify.</p>
<br />
<hr />
<h3>[Adult] Poison Wyrm - Level ???</h3>
<hr />
<br />
<p>'Fucking huge!' It was easily the size of an elephant. I glanced for but a moment, but I noticed the dull grey-green scales and vapid stream of toxin as my traps exhausted themselves without effect, just as I had feared just a while ago. The one I identified was fighting another of its species, laying waste to the surrounding grove. I did not linger to spectate.</p>
<p>I ran as far as I could, the noise of the brawl now far off. Most of the monsters had fled, so there was no need to avoid anything in particular. I continued traveling parallel to the mountain range, now looking for a safe place to camp for the night.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>'Hmm, so air blast is out.' I muttered to myself, chewing on a fried piece of meat from last night. 'Maybe I need more volume? Or make the air hotter?'</p>
<p>While I tried to focus on making more creative traps, I soon realized that my efforts were better utilized in a more defensive measure. The altercation of the wyrms had certainly left an impression. 'I wonder why they were out so far, and fighting each other?' The monsters on the "edge" weren't supposed to be so out of my league. 'Anyway, a barrier.' I thought for a moment about what exactly I wanted, going back to the metaphorical drawing board.</p>
<p>'Alright, so what do I want? An area of protection around me so I don't get turned into a snack in my sleep.' Obviously, if a big-ass monster crashed into camp, there wasn't much I could do. I decided to focus on what I could. 'Assume I would be attacked by something like the vultures, hyenas, or the moles.' That brought the air, land, and underground assaults to the fore. 'So I need to select a whole sphere around me.' Now, since I would be asleep, it would have to be a Circle.' And since my Circles were effectively consumables, I needed something that would wake me up as well, in addition to acting as a barrier. An alarm of sorts. 'Well, Incendio and Stupefy are both pretty loud.' And I was a light enough sleeper. 'Cannot use Incendio though or it will blow me up as well.'</p>
<p>So that left me with a Circle of Stupefy that targeted a hollow sphere instead of my usual in-circle range. That was the pinch though. First, all my Circles selected targets <em>inside</em> their perimeter. Second, the area included me as well. I had no idea how to un-target myself from the effect. That being said, I had an intuition that it was a trivial matter, as the system seemed to have an inbuilt protocol for the same that I had yet to explore. The first issue was more of a blocker, as I would need to work <em>around</em> the system to implement it. So far, I had not seen a single Rune that could be triggered remotely. Or at least targeted beyond its surrounding area.</p>
<p>I wasn't keen on sleeping, despite being tired. I realized that my stamina points were doing unsung wonders. Earlier I would have been winded from a simple run. But I had been trekking, fighting, and sprinting sporadically for a whole day yet had enough juice left to experiment. I challenged myself to produce a working prototype before the sun came up, and got to work.</p>
Chapter 44 - Reunion2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2044%20-%20Reunion/<h1>Chapter 44 - Reunion</h1>
<p>A chill breeze woke me up from my slumber. I got down and stretched out the kinks in my joints. A tree branch is not the most comfortable of beds. Neither did sleeping only a couple of hours help. Yet despite all that, I was refreshed. More than expected, in fact. 'Is the simulation changing my physique?' It probably meant my body wasn't the real flesh and bones from Earth, but a "virtual avatar". Hopefully.</p>
<p>I absently scanned my surroundings and lifted the cold waterskin to my lips. 'Nothing dangerous nearby.'</p>
<p>I gulped down all the water and glanced around at the Circle of Stupefy I had carved in the ground around the tree.</p>
<p>It was easy enough to un-target myself from the spell - I just had to stand inside the Circle while it was being formed. I was hesitant to test what would happen if I moved out and back in again.</p>
<p>I walked out of the Circle and away from the "camp". I was far too scared to sleep on the ground or make a fire. The Circle ran around the tree in a loop. I sighed as I noted the halfway decent attempt at spherical protection.</p>
<p>In the end, I was not able to pull it off. The Circle always targeted things inside its girth. Nothing I could do would make it expand its working area. So I expanded the Circle instead. While it would work just fine if a land-lubber attacked, ariel or underground attacks would be undetected until they actually touched the surface. If I had managed to select outside the Circle, I would have had it inscribed into some item and carried along with me. 'Oh, well.'</p>
<p>I picked up a fist-sized rock and threw it in. The Circle was triggered and it blasted the rock away. 'Better not keep live Circles around.'</p>
<p>I filled up my waterskin next, oriented myself according to the Sun that was showing its head, and started my way south parallel to the mountains.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Something was wrong.</p>
<p>It was almost mid-afternoon. I had kept my course south, yet to sight the fortress, still marching in the supposed untamed land. And I kept getting several magical pings in my radius, all the monsters running hither and thither.</p>
<p>Until a few hours ago.</p>
<p>It was quite weird, having gotten used to the presence of having monsters on the periphery of my senses. Their absence put me on edge.</p>
<p>I was on an active lookout for signs of any high-level monsters. Eyes peeled and ears strained. 'I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight.'</p>
<p>The forest was getting denser. The sun was no longer shining down on my head constantly, the tree cover providing relieving shade now and then.</p>
<p>'Is it just me or is that mountain closer than others?'</p>
<p>It seemed like one of the mountains had decided to grow apart from the range and jutted out slightly. As I gazed at the out-of-line peak, something magical made its presence known.</p>
<p>I immediately stopped my trek, vigilant for any movement. There was none. I waited still.</p>
<p>After waiting for several minutes, I decided that it was not a monster. 'I seriously need an upgrade to this skill.'</p>
<p>I stepped cautiously across the dry leaves, taking care not to crunch loudly. Nearing the magical signature, I noticed my perception guiding me towards a particularly old and gnarly tree.</p>
<p>While I was sure there was something there, for the life of me, I couldn't see anything. Just an ancient tree with all the scars to show for its age.</p>
<p>A stiff breeze moved the canopy overhead and the sunlight hit the tree trunk while I was staring at it. As soon as the trunk was visible in broad daylight, the shadows ran out of the scars and showed it for what it was - claw markings.</p>
<p>I was in the territory of a Dark Bear.</p>
<p>A conversation with Tyee ran through my mind as my fingertips grazed the deep claw marks</p>
<br />
<p><em>"If they don't breed, how are new Dark Bears created?" I queried.</em></p>
<p><em>"As with all monsters, Dark Bears were originally animals. Bears to be precise. Mana intruded in their bodies and twisted their spirits, turning animals into monsters." Tyee replied calmly, as we headed away from the latest mark.</em></p>
<p><em>"You mean mana can physically change body and mind? God, that's horrible."</em></p>
<p><em>"In case of monsters, yes. But it is not always for the worse. This path we follow, that guides us to our Classes, our Skills, our Evolutions - all are a result of mana working in and through us."</em></p>
<p><em>I bit my lip. My current hypothesis was mana was simply a resource assigned by the system, or Core as Betty called it, like memory or CPU slice. But that was based on my assumption from a programmer's perspective, where Spells were programs to be executed. Being able to touch just about every aspect of the world meant it was something more. "And what exactly is mana?"</em></p>
<p><em>"Kai believes it is a power of nature that transcends the physical realm." Tyee replied.</em></p>
<p><em>" And you? What do you believe?" I asked.</em></p>
<p><em>" I do not know. It is not my course to unravel the mysteries of the world." Tyee spoke slowly, then gestured in a direction ahead towards the left, "Our quarry went through here. It is young but well fed. It will laze about for a time then head back to its cave. Dark Bears are known to stalk and prey for days in one area until they are full. Then they shelter for a couple of weeks before moving on to a new hunting ground."</em></p>
<p><em>"How do you know it is well-fed just from seeing the mark?" I stared at the clawed bark.</em></p>
<p><em>"Because it is moving out of its hunting ground, in search of a shelter. I know it not just from this one mark, but from all the other marks as well as its trail and movements of other creatures in the area." Tyee gestured around, "When the Dark Bear is in the middle of a hunt, animals make sure not to make themselves known. But see here? The bush-vole is already out, digging for roots. The birds make hesitant chirps. Silence slowly lifts from the region. The hunt is over."</em></p>
<br />
<p>I observed the mark in front of me, comparing it to the ones made by the other bear. This one was longer, wider and deeper. Like made by a bigger and sharper claw.</p>
<p>The pin-drop silence in the middle of the forest and the lack of <em>anything</em> in my perception had my hackles raised.</p>
<p>'Should I just climb a tree and wait it out?' Convenient though it would have been to just hide away, I did not know how long I would be stuck up there. I had tried to ration my food to last, but at most I could eke out another day.</p>
<p>'Nothing to it then. Off we go.' I boosted my Circle of Protection and Perception to the max. A rustle off to the side had me jumping out of my skin. Flashbacks to being stalked in a tropical forest crept into my mind uninvited. It was far worse being alone.</p>
<p>'It's alright, you have goddamn lightning powers now. Chin up!' I strode ahead gradually, pausing at every other tree in case I needed to make an emergency escape.</p>
<p>Another half-hour passed as I inched onwards. The silence was deep as ever. Despite it still being the middle of the afternoon, the surroundings were getting noticeably darker. A small drop of sweat rolled down from my neck down my spine. I felt like I was being watched. Felt like I shouldn't be there. As if I was trespassing.</p>
<p>I stepped across another tree when multiple crunching sounds made their way across. I flinched but recovered within seconds. The sound was nearby, so I decided to take a quick look, although I was pretty sure of what I would find.</p>
<p>Crawling up crouched and hiding behind a large tree, I peered into the unnaturally dense darkness of a clearing where I could hear sounds. Sounds of flesh and bones being torn and shredded. I scrutinized across the view and my eyes landed on the figure I sought.</p>
<p>A bundle of dense fur, tight muscle, and pitch-black shadows the size of a war-horse was tearing into an already half-eaten carcass of an elk-like animal. I stared as it placed a paw the size of its prey's head on the belly and opened its jaws wide to cover the whole hind leg. With a crunch, it tore clean through tissue and marrow.</p>
<p>I dare not Identify it. I was pretty sure it would show the level in three question marks. I decided to leave the creature to its feast and sneak away as far as I could get. The elk would occupy it for a while.</p>
<p>I was still gawking as I stepped back, ready to slink away unnoticed. And stepped on a dry twig with a loud <em>crack</em>.</p>
<p>'SHIT!'</p>
<p>The creature instantly stopped eating and unerringly glared in my direction. I took action immediately. Readying a Stupefy with as much mana as I could force into it, which was almost half my total mana. The bear let out a bone-chilling growl. With legs shivering, I shouted as loudly as I could - "STUPEFY!" If I get a headshot, it is as good as gone.</p>
<p>I saw my hopes being dashed in slow motion. Just as the lightning was about to go off, the shadows around the bear pooled into its body. Fur became liquid darkness, as the darkness coalesced into a big ball of nothing. Then my spell went off as boisterously as always.</p>
<p>I knew I had failed to kill it. I did not get any experience tugs. I had hoped to damage it enough to at least scare it away. To my horror, the bear emerged out entirely unscathed from the shadow several meters off to the side. And it was <em>pissed</em>!</p>
<p>'FUCK!'</p>
<p>With a roar that shook the ground itself, the monster launched like a rocket in my direction. I defaulted to my usual escape route out of sheer habit, scrambling up the tree in a mad rush.</p>
<p>I found a perch on a low-hanging branch just as the bear shoulder tackled the damn tree. The ancient tree shook. I was jerked aside, but I held to the trunk like a tick.</p>
<p>I watched as the behemoth withdrew on shaky legs. Soon, it got its bearings and glared up at me with deep hatred and unnatural cunning. I gaped as it called the shadows again, slower this time. It seemed it was teleporting again, but with a specific destination in mind. To my dismay, I realized the destination to be near the trunk on the thick branch I was standing on, by the clout of darkness forming there. While I was unsure if the branch could even take its bulk, I wasn't just going to let it do whatever it wanted. I selected the whole trunk and whispered "Lumos". I kept a hold on the regions even as the spell manifested, and forced mana in. Then sighed with relief as its spell petered out. Lumos was a relatively lightweight spell, even after brute-forcing. I decided to keep it up and running.</p>
<p>The beast gave off an irritated growl as its tactic failed. It was also wary of coming near the glowing tree. I took the chance to scramble further upon another branch. At less than half my mana, I had to be careful what Spells I used next. All curses were out, they barely worked on the previous one, this one would not even feel them. I could risk an Incendio but if it did not work, I would be out of options. I decided to wait and watch instead. 'Maybe it'll get bored and go away.'</p>
<p>With a dark snout high up, it sniffed the air. Ever so cautiously it approached the tree. I increased the glow slightly. It stopped, calling for more shadows to cover, but did not retreat. After several seconds of sniffing and growling, it moved in again.</p>
<p>As soon as it was within striking distance of the tree, it lashed out and struck the trunk with claws coated in darkness. They went through the wood without any resistance. Sweat drenched the robe on my back as I stared, dumbstruck.</p>
<p>Without waiting, it slashed again. This time with more force. Splinters flew off and I got back to my senses. I targeted the snout and whispered "Stupefy", adding perhaps another 100 mana to the spell. At this point, I just wanted to keep the thing away from me.</p>
<p>It must have had an extraordinary hearing or a sixth sense because it vanished again just before my spell struck, appearing in the shadows of another tree ahead of me. It launched itself again and collided with the tree. The wood creaked and groaned, leaning back from the force but holding on. It started slashing again.</p>
<p>Not willing to give in, I let loose a low-level Stupefy. I turned off the Circles to conserve mana. Stupefy made quite the noise, but was harmless at this level. Yet it worked well to drive it off from the assault temporarily. It blinked away and rammed into the tree again. The timber leaned further back. I wasn't sure how long it would hold. A couple more strikes and it'll fall.</p>
<p>All the gears in my mind were turning full speed trying to figure a way out while my imagination threatened me with images of myself in place of the elk-carcass. 'How is it avoiding my spells?' I was a bit surprised that my thoughts were so calm despite the chaos overriding my mind and the terror gripping my heart.</p>
<p>Just as it rammed another time, an arrow came whooshing in, embedding deep into its flank. 'Tyee?'</p>
<p>The monster jumped back, more in surprise than pain. It roared in the direction of where the arrow came from. But another arrow streaked along and hit its belly. This one elicited a howl of pain, as it teleported off back several meters. Not that it helped.</p>
<p>As soon as it came out from the teleport, another arrow thudded into its shoulder, followed by a couple more into its back. All arrows came from different directions. The bear was surrounded. 'It's not Tyee then. Meh, he usually goes for headshots anyway.'</p>
<p>The bear was peppered with arrows from a distance. Even as it tried to run away, the hail didn't lessen. Whenever it teleported, half a dozen arrows found it immediately after. Soon, between angry roars and pained yelps, the bear was put down. The shadows melted away, giving way to the light. The bear was covered in arrows just about everywhere, looking halfway like a large porcupine. I felt a rush of XP increase, signifying that the bear was truly dead.</p>
<p>I clambered down the trunk in a decidedly ungraceful fashion, landing on the ground to find myself surrounded by half a dozen Rangers. 'Wait, they're not wearing the Royal Ranger Corp uniform!' Indeed, theirs was a greener shade of cloth while the Rangers preferred a darker one. Looking closely I noticed the insignias were different as well. Just as I was about to thank the exemplary NPCs who saved my life, a voice called out from the back.</p>
<p>"Pat? What the hell are you doing here?"</p>
<p>A voice I knew quite well.</p>
<p>"Julie?"</p>
Chapter 45 - Not Tinkerbell2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2045%20-%20Not%20Tinkerbell/<h1>Chapter 45 - Not Tinkerbell</h1>
<p>"...and that is when you all found me." I finished a tale of kidnapping, chase, murder, and massacre. The absurd reality of events still felt... absurd. 'Is this how actual in-game player characters would feel, assuming they could?' They would not have the benefit of an outside perspective like mine.</p>
<p>"Whoa." Julie exhaled, the Rangers surrounding us now pointedly looking away. I was aware of them keeping half an ear on my story. Julie continued, "And you already reached level 25? I've been training every day and am still two levels away!"</p>
<p>"Maybe it's because you've been sharing XP with a whole group?" I replied. Julie hmm'ed thoughtfully. The guy who was Julie's representative spoke up. "Sire?"</p>
<p>"Yes? Sorry, I missed your name." I don't remember if we were introduced back at the palace. I <em>do</em> sorta remember his serious face, but I forgot most of the names.</p>
<p>"Johnathan Rice, Sire. Of Clan Rice. Subordinate of Clan Pierce, Stewards of High Passes." He bowed from where he was standing a distance away from Julie and me. I nodded awkwardly, still unused to the etiquette. "You mentioned that the men from Royal Ranger Corp made an attempt on your life?"</p>
<p>"Um... I'm not sure. The Assassin <em>was</em> hiding amongst them, but he killed his fellow Ranger. He also mentioned a contract from the New Church. And that he was a hired hand." It would be pretty bad odds if an entire military arm was hostile to me.</p>
<p>John looked like he wanted to say more, but Julie butted in excitedly. "So you lived with the Centaurs? What was it like? What are <em>they</em> like? Did you ride any? From what John says, they give a samurai vibe. Did you fight with any?"</p>
<p>Julie certainly was gushing with novel energy. I had never seen her like this in the Tutorial. I raised my palms in a calming gesture, "I was there for like, half a day. And most of that was spent either in a tent or asleep. I told you right? First I was knocked out, then I had to flee." I thought of the Centaurs I had met in the brief time I spent in the Tadako tribe. Kai, the grandmother with supernatural wisdom. Nina, a raging firestorm of a Centaur-woman.</p>
<p>And Tyee.</p>
<p>"Maybe they <em>are</em> a bit like samurai. Not all of them, but some. In the sense that they are dedicated to their path. Like bushido, you know?" Julie nodded eagerly. I continued with a chuckle, "And no, I neither rode nor fought any. I think either would've led to a swift death." Julie chuckled with me, as I thought of the time I felt swift death closing in on me. "I hope Arya and Carol are okay."</p>
<p>Julie leveled a stare at John, who instantly perked up. "Fear not sire. I shall have a message sent to the palace." With that, he left to speak with one of his men. Some were still occupied with skinning the dead beast.</p>
<p>"So... That's about me. How have you been?" I was genuinely curious. Julie had lived for a couple of weeks entirely among the NPCs. I hoped she didn't feel lonely.</p>
<p>"It's been awesome!" She laughed. "To think I spent my whole life in one dinky apartment or another! I love the forest, these big-ass trees, and lush greenery. I love going on hunts, and pitting my bow against ferocious creatures. I love camping out under the starry sky when all the troubles just melt away. It's just so... I don't know how to say it. I just feel so <em>alive</em> you know? It all feels just <em>right</em> to me. I never knew I was an outdoorsy type. Now? Verdammmt, can't wait to trail another monster and class up already!"</p>
<p>I stared at her, surprised at the outburst. "Wow... Someone's having a lot of fun, eh?" I smirked. She slapped my arm.</p>
<p>Her smile waned a little. "I don't know how I would live back... in the other world, knowing what I know now."</p>
<p>I gawked at her. 'This world is <em>fake</em>.' I wanted to shout in her face. But I knew she knew it herself. Iterating on it was useless. I tried another tactic, hoping to make her feel better.</p>
<p>"Well, think of it like this. Now that you know you love the outdoors, you and Jake can go camp out in the woods. Hike away in the Alps or something." I joked. She smiled again, but it was a weary one. Definitely not the one I was aiming for. She didn't reply; instead, she went quiet and gazed away into the forest.</p>
<p>I decided not to dig a deeper hole, and watched the Rangers work until John returned. "Mage Hero Sire, I have had an urgent message dispatched to the palace, letting them know of your well-being." He glanced towards my fellow test subject. "Julie?" He asked with concern. Julie focused back, replacing her morose smile with a warm one. "We leaving? About time." She got up from the log we had turned into our temporary lounge and brushed off clingy loose dirt off her robe. "Come, we'll go back to our place. The High Passes are that-a-way," she gestured to the right, "no point going there now. Tell me about the lightning show you had going on. And how did you make the tree glow? Also -"</p>
<p>Julie continued ranting. It was like meeting an old friend after a very long time, one who wanted to share every bit of mundane gossip. She was unlike the stoically determined Julie I had come to know. While she still had a streak of "leading the march", it was a different drive that pushed her now. I was glad for her, although it was tinged with the sorrow of knowing her new reality was built on shaky virtual foundations. I would not be the one to burst her bubble. I let her be, glad for however long the temporary happiness would last. One must snatch it where one can.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>It turned out that the entire expedition was out in the search of the Dark Bear itself. It had apparently migrated too far away from the northern mountains, a rare thing to happen. The Clans had caught wind of it traveling south and dispatched a force to take care of it. Julie was in the area with John and a couple more of his people for training and had attached herself to the group for the hunt.</p>
<p>It was a supposedly lucky coincidence that they came across me when they did. The lightning noises worked as a beacon, and they took the opportunity to surround and bombard the monster with arrows while it was otherwise occupied.</p>
<p>As we walked along a comfortable trail, I threw Identifys at the nearby NPCs. John was a triple mark like Francisa, but instead of Prince, his Class was Warden. I wasn't sure what he was a warden of though. 'The forest?' The other two from his entourage - the old guy with more grey than black in his beard was honest-to-goodness Ranger with three marks and the woman, young enough to be in her late teens, was a two-mark Scout.</p>
<p>"So what's this about a key?" Julie commented from my side. I decided to Identify the other NPCs later; even if there was an Assassin hiding, they won't pull any stunt right now.</p>
<p>"Kai, the old Centaur lady I told you about?" I glanced at Julie, who replied, "The Seer?" I nodded and continued, "Her. She gave me this thing -" I removed the pure-white marble with inlaid gold from the depths of my robe pocket and handed it over to Julie. "said it was a 'key'. And that there are two more. All three will be needed in some way to defeat the Calamity." Julie rolled the marble in her palm, eyes furrowed in concentration. Speaking of Calamity got everyone's attention, but it was John who spoke up.</p>
<p>"And did the Seer mention where those might be, Sire?" He questioned lightly.</p>
<p>"Just call me Pat, John," I said. He wasn't this stiff with Julie. "And no, I'm afraid she didn't elaborate precisely where, just that both were inside the forest to the south on either side of the mountains." 'And that there will be trials for both of them.'</p>
<p>"Sire Pat." He nodded, "I've read reports of Elven machines guarding the forest to the south on the other side. As for the forest directly south of us? I cannot say. I don't think anyone has traveled in far."</p>
<p>"And with good reason." Muttered the old Ranger, speaking up for the first time since I joined them. "Ah, beggin' pardon milords. But the forest south is naught but misery an' death, I say."</p>
<p>Julie handed the marble key back to me and queried the man, "What do you mean Carl?"</p>
<p>"Just that milady. I been there, back when we fought the Faeries. 'Twas no fight that, no sir. Them creatures played with the men like cats with mice. Pulled men into bogs that weren't there a step before, poisoned our water with every random sip, spoiled our rations on a whimsy. They <em>loved</em> to play tricks on our minds. Why, I seen one man on watch just walk away into the dark, beaming like he knew a joke none else did. Tried to stop him, I did. But was too late. And I dare not follow him. He wasn't seen again, that poor lout. And all this before we even went deep in the forest, mind you. Them Faeries were much closer to our lands before we drove 'em back. But by sweet Luminari, I'd face a dozen Dark Bears any day over one of them Faerie folk."</p>
<p>We were all stunned into silence. All this time, when the topic of Faeries came up, I imagined someone like Tinkerbell buzzing around. Apparently, I was <em>way</em> off base. That did bring up a curious question, which I offered immediately,</p>
<p>"How did you drive them back?"</p>
<p>It wasn't old man Carl who answered me, however, it was John. "Sire, didn't Francisa mention the Faerie War?"</p>
<p>'Francisa? What has she got to do with this?' I tried to recall what she had to say regarding this topic.</p>
<p>"Um, she did touch on it. Apparently, humans tried to conquer the southern forest in their early efforts to colonize the region. But they encountered fierce resistance from the native creatures. They were driven off, but humans left the place alone as well. She did not mention how or why though."</p>
<p>"Curious..." John whispered, then spoke up as if reciting a rote lesson from childhood, "Sire Alexander Von Lohengramm the Second himself lent a hand to the Southern Division who were stuck deep in the forest, even though he was assigned to the Field Army conquering the central swath."</p>
<p>He glanced at Carl. Carl nodded. Unspoken words were exchanged.</p>
<p>"His glorious deeds saved many men that day. They were able to retreat safely, although the area was deemed too dangerous for humans thence."</p>
<p>'Francisa is not one to shy from speaking about her family history. Seems like she was skipping out on some things though. Curious indeed.'</p>
<p>"Um, okay," I replied, most of my attention focused on dissecting the mystery so I had no more questions. Julie, however, had an excellent one:</p>
<p>"So how do we get the key from the Faeries?"</p>
Chapter 46 - Respite2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2046%20-%20Respite/<h1>Chapter 46 - Respite</h1>
<p>We decided to put a pin on the matter of Faeries for now.</p>
<p>First, we would need the whole group to be at least level 30 before even standing a chance of surviving, according to the more informed NPCs. While I was halfway across level 27, none of the others had reached even 25.</p>
<p>Second, we didn't know exactly where the key was. Or if it was even there at all. The NPCs would do the groundwork of charting the region and finding "key" spots, while the Heroes would surgically strike in at the end to actually retrieve the key if needed.</p>
<p>We sat at a former campsite just outside the forest. It was decided that we - the four of Julie's group and myself, would stay the night there. The Dark Bear sortie had moved on, half of them back to where ever NPCs go off-screen, the other half to investigate the Wyrms I spoke of during my retelling of the journey south.</p>
<p>We mostly kept to ourselves during our walk back to the camp, making little small talk. It was far into the evening and I sat on a log facing the crackling fire. Julie and John claimed another log off to the right and perpendicular to mine, also facing the center. Carl and the other one were out on watch. At least the girl was, I didn't see Carl after we set the camp up.</p>
<p>I slowly slurped my saltwater that was supposed to be a stew, listening to John speak about his home.</p>
<p>"So it's like here?" Julie queried with a twinkle in her eyes.</p>
<p>"Yes," John replied. He hadn't taken a sip of his stew yet. "If anything, the trees are even <em>larger</em>. My grandfather had a fief larger than the Clan Pierce and Wengli combined, my father says. He used to run free like a wild buck in woods so old you could practically feel the weight of time there."</p>
<p>John gives a rare smile, gazing at the burning logs, probably imagining the scene. "My father was being bullheaded, said he wanted to stay and fight, but grandfather knocked him out one night and stuffed him on the ship to Alteraz."</p>
<p>The smile vanished, replaced by thinning lips. "Da is too old to go back now, but his dream lives through his children. We will reclaim our home one day. And <em>our</em> children will run free through those woods again."</p>
<p>I gulped down the water that was staining my tongue. It didn't feel like a moment to slurp another mouthful. But I did not know what to say either. I was about to come up with some generic condolences but Julie beat me to it.</p>
<p>She balanced her own bowl in one hand, gently placed the other on John's knee, and whispered so softly that her voice barely made it to me, "Your home sounds beautiful John. I can't wait to see it myself!"</p>
<p>John gave a soft smile as he looked at Julie, a mix of sorrow and hope. Julie squeezed her hand tighter and stared right back. 'His home has been overtaken by Calamity. Even if it is not utterly destroyed by now, we would have to defeat the Calamity to reclaim it. And I doubt us players would stay in the game after that.' I thought. "A worthy goal," I spoke out loud, looking at John. He broke the staring contest with Julie and nodded at me.</p>
<p>"STOP!" shouted our lady watcher. I immediately got up and started jogging her way, right on the heels of the other two. It couldn't be a monster, I had not sensed any. Unless it was a high-leveled one. But then she wouldn't just ask it to stop.</p>
<p>My confusion was answered as I spotted the girl speaking hurriedly to Carl. "There's a defensive magical Circle laid by Sir Mage Hero here." She pointed to the ground. 'Ah.' Carl had vanished before I could explain the Circle I had laid around the camp, hence the ruckus now that he had arrived. "Ach. How'd I get in then?" They all looked at me.</p>
<p>'Shit.'</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>In the end, we four walked out of the Circle. Then I threw a big rock and destroyed it. Then all five of us walked in. I was embarrassed the whole time. 'It's not my fault I don't know how to temporarily disable these things. Jeez.'</p>
<p>I wondered what would happen if something random like a leaf or some bird comes inside. Blow up, probably. In my defense, I was incredibly on edge and needed <em>something</em> to reassure me when I created these. Thankfully, no one questioned it when I didn't put up another Circle, assuming I was low on mana or something.</p>
<p>"Ain't seen magic like that before, no sir," Carl spoke up, after taking a bowl of his own. The girl went back to her watch and the rest of us took seats on the log.</p>
<p>"Really? I figured you'd have seen a magic Circle before." I questioned.</p>
<p>"Magic Circle I've seen, aye. More than my fair share, I say. But never one made by a single Mage. Or drawn in the dirt." He replied.</p>
<p>Technically, I wasn't drawing them in the dirt. I was digging inches deep furrows in the ground itself.</p>
<p>"Most I seen made up on the spot, a Mage drawn some squiggles on a paper. Smelt funny that. Used it to blow a goblin's arse, so there's that. Haha." Carl guffawed. John leveled a stare are him. Carl quickly ingested the rest of his laughter into a cough and apologized, "Ah. Beggin' pardon sires and milady. My tongue work faster than my old brain oftentimes."</p>
<p>I waved him off. 'So Circles are pretty rare. Got it.'</p>
<p>"You were here during the Goblin Wars?" I queried.</p>
<p>"Aye. I was." He gave a quick glance around, making sure the lady was keeping watch, then leaned in. "Was but a young buck with a new class when I took to ship. Lived me whole life here, like as not. And fought in most places as wars took me. And to speak truth, I be dying 'ere as well." He raised his hand before any of us could say anything. "I ain't complaining. I lived a long life. And never faced the Calamity, thank sweet Luminari for that. But it won't be the same for you lot."</p>
<p>He looked at the girl again. She glanced back and gave a smile. He smiled back. She went back to patrolling and his smile vanished. "I ain't faced it, but I saw enough good men and women go off to fight it. Most never made it back. The few that did." He shook his head and sighed. "They weren't right in the head. Strong people, each and every one of them. I canne even imagine what they seen."</p>
<p>He took a sip then. I waited for him to continue. He didn't, so I prodded. "What do you mean?"</p>
<p>"Ach, how do I speak it. It be like they died out there, just didn't know it. Their eyes! Luminaris. Their eyes were <em>dead</em>! They had given up on living, you ken?" He took a sip, a tremor running through his aged arms. "Many of them that returned, went right back in the fight. It be like they were not of this world anymore. The remained?" He took a breath. "They hanged themselves within days."</p>
<p>He glanced morosely at the girl at the edge of our camp. "And now you young 'uns will fight the same darn fight."</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Late at night, the girl returned from the watch and Carl took over. Our talks continued.</p>
<p>Apparently, the girl was named Carla, after her grandfather. Yes, she was the old man's granddaughter. It was surprising but also fitting, in a way. NPCs in this simulation were tightly related to each other, and each one seemingly had a unique perspective and history to share. At least all the ones I had interacted with so far. I couldn't even imagine the amount of effort and resources that must've been poured to reach this stage.</p>
<p>Currently, we were back on the topic of Julie's advancement.</p>
<p>"So what evolution do you think you will get?" I asked. 'I know of one possible evolution. Royal Archer. No, make that two.' There was Seline's Sniper Class as well. 'Perhaps there is Ranger as well, or is it only for Scouts?'</p>
<p>"Evolution?" Julie looked at me, confused. I looked back, just as confused. 'She doesn't know?' We both looked at John, who drove his hand through his hair and laughed sheepishly.</p>
<p>"He wanted it to be a surprise." Carla came to the rescue. 'Surprise?' Perhaps she was pouring oil into the fire. Her smirk at least suggested so.</p>
<p>Julie gaped at John for a while, then both burst out in giggles. Carla's smirk turned into smug satisfaction, but I remained as confused as before. Eventually, Julie calmed down and asked me, "What is your evolution?"</p>
<p>I waited until the ambiance settled down suitably. Deciding to go with the flow - and ignoring the sudden change in topic, I replied, "I got Battle Mage."</p>
<p>Carla sucked in a breath while John's eyes widened. 'Is it that big of a deal? Tyee was chill with it.'</p>
<p>"That be... wow." Carla exhaled loudly. She had gotten comfortable with me around now, perhaps knowing I wasn't a stickler for rules and such. I also noticed how she slipped into an accent similar to her grandfather's now and then.</p>
<p>"It is a very valuable Class, Sire." John started. "I don't think there is any peer Class that can stand in the face of a Battle Mage's Skills."</p>
<p>"Is it that powerful?" Julie had slight awe in her voice as well.</p>
<p>John nodded as he replied to Julie's question, "It is. I've seen it for myself. Sire Hilbert - " He looked at me, "Francisa's elder brother, was a Battle Mage. He was posted at the High Passes before his untimely death." He gestured back into the forest beyond the camp limits, "The Dark Bear we fought, he would've destroyed it within minutes." An unlikely chuckle escaped him then, "And perhaps a great number of trees while at it." He then stared at me earnestly, "But be warned Sire, with great power comes a great number of enemies. And not every opponent fights face-to-face." He gestured at Julie's bow. "An arrow or poison may not seem more dangerous than a dragon's claw or breath, but all are equally lethal to the unprepared."</p>
<p>I nodded. I wasn't taking it easy <em>per se</em>, but saying and doing are different things. Either way, I was thankful for the advice. He was not done though.</p>
<p>"Sir Hilbert was ferocious on his own, yet he always had the support of his entourage. Battle Mages are effective but also inherit all the weaknesses of their base Class. Their mana is large but limited, and once it runs out, they are little better than a civilian in the field. They also aren't very mobile, so they need to pick a good spot in the first place - difficult in the middle of combat, and secondly, must be protected at all times. For a Warrior may shrug off an arrow or two, at least until the end of a fight to get it treated, but it will likely be the end of the line for the Mage."</p>
<p>I nodded again. I <em>was</em> looking into defensive spell functions but had no epiphany yet. John just made their priority go up, enough that I might have to reach out for help from others. That would only happen when I reached back to the capital, however, as Clan Rice had no Mages and Clan Pierce's were concentrated on the High Passes and northern wilderness.</p>
<p>John did offer to have me escorted to the capital along with the half of the unit that went back, but I had declined. I chose to stay until Julie reached level 25, then go back together to the palace to regroup with others and make further plans. It would also offer some respite from back-to-back days of excitement.</p>
<p>I bid the rest goodnight soon after and headed into a tiny tent, Julie's words of wanting to see John's home echoing in the back of my mind for some reason.</p>
Chapter 47 - Dungeon and Dragons2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2047%20-%20Dungeon%20and%20Dragons/<h1>Chapter 47 - Dungeon and Dragons</h1>
<p>I woke up a bit before dawn, finally having had a proper sleep. I escaped the tiny tent and spied Carla stirring some sludge over the sputtering fire.</p>
<p>"Morning," I greeted the girl with a slight smile. Her wild dark brown hair was messily combed back, a ponytail barely holding everything together. She glanced back with a grand smile. "Good mornin' milord."</p>
<p>I sat beside her on the log, warming my hands on the fire while she resumed her stirring. Without any prompt from me, she spoke up, "Grandpa Carl's gone out again, milord John went with him this time. Lady Julie is still asleep."</p>
<p>"Oh, good to know," I replied and gestured at the dented vessel containing our breakfast. "What's cooking?"</p>
<p>"Rabbit stew, just like last night. It'll go down well with some bread, but it be a little stale now." She replied.</p>
<p>'Ugh, not again.' I grimaced.</p>
<p>"Hahaha," she laughed out loud. I glanced at her, a bit surprised at the unexpected sound. "Ah, beg your pardon milord. Just, your face... Not used to the forest fare?"</p>
<p>'Holy crap, are the NPCs reacting to non-verbal ticks now?' I was stunned. "Um, yeah," I mumbled back.</p>
<p>She must've misunderstood my shock for embarrassment, as she started consoling me, "Aye, I know how you feel sire. I was just the same when I started as a proper Scout. Mam spoilt me rotten on all the delicacies before. I love the woods, no doubt, but I also miss the home comforts some. Or used to. Now I've gotten used to it all. You'll get used to it soon enough."</p>
<p>"I dearly hope so." I gave a weary smile. 'I'd rather just not be in the forest if I could help it.' "And please, call me Pat. I'm in your care after all."</p>
<p>Her cheeks gained some color at that. She stared back at the pot on the fire, giving a few vigorous stirs, then whispered out, "Pat." A second after that, she sneaked a glimpse back at me. Using her other hand to put back a few strands that fell free behind her ear, she continued, "Call me Carla."</p>
<p>'Wait, is this NPC flirting with me?' I was pretty sure she was, yes. I took a good look at her, a rounded, average if pretty face. Light brownish hair, freckles across her nose. She was cute. I was curious which of my words must've triggered her flirting sub-routine.</p>
<p>Her reaction to me checking her out was ultra-realistic as well. Her pinkish cheeks were almost rosy-red now. She was back to boring into the cooking pot and stirring with more vigor than necessary.</p>
<p>"So, Carla." I started. She almost dropped her ladle. "How long you've been out like this?"</p>
<p>I expected her to stutter a little, but beyond a slight hesitation, her speech was as usual, if a little high-pitched. "I got the Class when I was ten, like everyone. But I first started venturing into the forest with grandpa after I turned 13. Over a decade ago, that be."</p>
<p>'Wow, that's... a lot. 10 years and still in double marks level? NPCs must have massive restrictions on leveling up.'</p>
<p>"You must know most of the forest by now." I joked.</p>
<p>"Haha," she laughed freely, earlier awkwardness barely an undertone. "I wish. Grandpa has forgotten more than I have ever learned. As he likes to remind me so often."</p>
<p>I laughed with her. It felt nice. The early dawn ambiance, sputtering flames, easy-going companions. Reminded me of the times I went out camping with my friends, sitting around a campfire, pursuing random topics in our useless chattering. A small ache formed in my chest. I buried it over more conversation.</p>
<p>"So where are they gone?" I asked. 'If they are going to take their time, I can do a few more experiments.'</p>
<p>"Milady Julie insisted that she wants to hunt more monsters, that we be staying here until her class evolves." Carla shrugged. Noticing my questioning gaze, she elaborated, "Normally, we'd be back in the village for rest like as not." She pulled the ladle from the pot and sniffed. Nodding to herself, she conjured a bowl from somewhere and filled it up to the brim. "So they went in search of prey. Here, how about some early breakfast?" She handed it to me. I took it gratefully, the heat was welcome enough against my stiff fingers. She then opened a sack on her other side, pull a couple of loaves out, and handed me one, while filling another bowl for herself.</p>
<p>"Thanks," I murmured and smiled gratefully.</p>
<p>"Aye, welcome," she whispered and smiled back, cheeks still slightly colored.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"Were-deer?" I rolled the words in my mouth. They were strangely rhythmic.</p>
<p>"Aye, a proper herd of 'em." Carl puffed out. They had just returned from their scouting trip and found some manner of monster deer. "Headed south right over to us too. And it gets worse."</p>
<p>"Worse?" Julie quipped from her bowl. She was more excited than worried. Carla, instead, had her eyebrows rising up with each reveal.</p>
<p>"Yes," John answered. "They have a Maricha at their head." Carla's brows disappeared under her bangs. 'Wait, Maricha? Where have I heard it before?'</p>
<p>"What's a Maricha?" Julie asked while I dug deeper into the memories of folklore I read as a child.</p>
<p>"A Maricha is an evolved variant of were-deer," Carla spoke up. "They are well-known for their shiny golden hide but are extremely hard to catch because of their illusion magic. They are known to fool both eyes and ears, using tricks to flee predators and catch prey. But..." She looked at her grandfather with concern, who nodded to her to continue along. "Were-deer are not known to come here so far south, let alone a high-leveled one. This region is not in their migration path. They prefer the grassy plains of northern Alteraz, not the forested areas here. Why are so many monsters coming down? What is happening?"</p>
<p>'Illusions? Fool eyes and eyes. Hmm, this is ringing some bells.'</p>
<p>"As you say." Carl nodded at his granddaughter. "Methinks the Dragons are waking up."</p>
<p>I was roughly yanked out of my ruminations by that statement. I had not forgotten the "lesser dragonling" we had encountered in the Tutorial. Julie and I exchanged a glance, both thinking of the same. I suppressed a shiver.</p>
<p>John gazed at Carl with intensity, "Are you sure Carl? The Clans must be informed if it is so."</p>
<p>"Sure? Will 'ave to see 'em Dragons meself to be so," he snorted. "I simply canne think of another reason. I remember the last time those spiky bastards showed up. Thought the world was ending, aye."</p>
<p>'The old man has seen them?' Carla beat both Julie and myself to the punch. "You were there?" She shouted, "When the Salvation Dungeon was discovered?"</p>
<p>'The Salvation Dungeon?' my face twisted towards Carla. 'So many questions! Holy shit this cutscene is intense.' I decided to let it play instead of interrupting. Questions can be answered later. Thankfully, Julie did not interrupt either.</p>
<p>"I was, aye." Carl sounded a bit subdued, "lost many friends then. Almost died meself." He glanced up and smiled at Carla, "Went lookin' for the fabled Dungeon from the prophecy. Along with the big wigs from many Clans. Found it we did, but couldn't get inside. And we lingered too long. Aye. And them hungry beasties sniffed us too. Woke 'em up, I think we did. Thought the mountains were crashin' first. But no, it was just them prancing about. Would never forget the sight."</p>
<p>His words were greeted with silence. He looked around and chortled as if satisfied with the scare he had given us. "Ach, might be nothing. Those lazy scalies are known to sleep for ages. So, about them were-deer."</p>
<p>'No wait, I wanna know more about the Dungeon... And Dragons.' But before I could raise my point, John spoke up. "Even if it is Dragons, discussing about it would get us nowhere. We must focus on the threat in front of us."</p>
<p>Carla nodded. Julie did too, although a bit reluctantly. Then they all stared at me. 'Jeez, peer pressure much?' I wasn't gonna be the jerk who wouldn't let go. So I let it go. Temporarily. Information should be pursued as a blood-hound pursues... 'Holy, I remember what Maricha is.'</p>
<p>"Say, do you know have Demons here?" I inquired tentatively. In Hindu mythology, Maricha was the "Rakshasa" who took the form of a golden deer to aid in a kidnapping. He also faked the death cries of another towards that end. Rakshasas were loosely related to Demons in most mythologies elsewhere. 'Could this Maricha be based on that one? Illusions that fool eyes and ears, seem like it. But there is more than one here? The one in the myth was a unique existence.'</p>
<p>"None, Sire." John immediately replied. Carla looked confused at the sudden topic. Carl looked thoughtful, I noted. "Unless you count the tales told by mothers to have their little ones sleep without a fuss."</p>
<p>"Hmm," I pondered, 'So there are no demons <em>at all</em> except scary stories?' "What do you say, Carl?"</p>
<p>Carl looked at me askance. "Them folks who fought the Calamity, they spoke of demons. That is all I know."</p>
<p>"Why do you ask Pat?" Julie butted in. "Ah, just curious," I answered. "We should get on with this deer thing, time's wasting." From her look, I knew she wasn't going to let it rest. A woman after my own heart. Thankfully, she didn't insist right then.</p>
<p>"Let's go hunt some were-deer then! By the way, what's a were-deer?"</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"So, why Demons?" Julie questioned. It was almost afternoon. We were now trekking north, but instead of the forest, we took a slightly eastern route that had more grass than trees. Straight towards the herd.</p>
<p>Apparently, were-deer were classified so by the Rangers for their varied diet. They ate everything from grass to carcasses, despite looking not that different from normal deer. Their magical intestines aside, they were the major part of the food chain in the northern plains. Them migrating down would not be a problem by itself, but they would bring more dangerous monsters down sniffing their trail. And <em>that</em> would be a big problem.</p>
<p>Julie and I were hanging back, both Archer and Battle-Mage being long-ranged Classes. John was slightly ahead of us, far enough that we had privacy to speak but close enough to come to our aid if needed. Carla was even further, but still in sight, unlike her grandfather.</p>
<p>"Maricha, the golden deer we are about to hunt?" I asked. She hmm'ed. "It likely comes from the story of Ramayana. He was supposed to be a shape-shifting Demon in that, so I asked if there are any here." She hmm'ed again, thoughtful this time.</p>
<p>"What do you make of this Salvation Dungeon?" I asked her.</p>
<p>"I thin-" She started, but stopped immediately after seeing a signal from John. Carl had rejoined the group at some point.</p>
<p>We shuffled quickly up to where the three NPCs were waiting for us in a huddle.</p>
<p>"Spotted 'em, about half a mile ahead. About a hundred of them. Most are level 30 to 50." Carl started giving up the situation report as soon as we arrived. "And the big shiny one. He be at the front leading them."</p>
<p>'<em>Hundreds.</em>' I sucked in a breath. "We can't fight so many."</p>
<p>"We can't if they <em>all</em> fought us." Carla explained, "But many of the herd are fawn and female who care for them. If they had a choice to fight or run, they will always run. And so will most of the low leveled males, when they are scared enough. For a herd of hundred, their realistic strength would be around a dozen or so fighters."</p>
<p>I exhaled, letting some tension flow out. The area had sparse vegetation, I couldn't escape up a convenient tree. Nor would I have Circles prepared in advance to trap the unwary, since we would be going to them instead of them coming to us. The only advantage was that I was not alone. I had three experienced NPCs and Julie along with me. And I wasn't a weakling anymore either.</p>
<p>'We can do this!'</p>
Chapter 48 - Maricha's Snare2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2048%20-%20Maricha's%20Snare/<h1>Chapter 48 - Maricha's Snare</h1>
<p>"I see the shiny one," Julie whispered quietly. "Should I take the shot?"</p>
<p>John and Carla had joined us; all four of us were sneaking towards the herd. It was now within eye-sight. Unfortunately, my perception didn't make it so far, so I had to rely on my non-magical senses only. Carl was nowhere within sight, although John explained it was okay since him interfering would skew the XP gains. He would help out if things go dire, so there was that.</p>
<p>I tried to strain my eyes and check the Maricha for myself. Unfortunately, I could barely make out a golden blob in the distance. And it only stood out because of the sea of brown behind it. I was surprised that Julie was confident about making a hit from so far away; she must've progressed quite a lot.</p>
<p>"I would say no, milady," Carla whispered back, "even if you hit it, it won't go down in a single arrow. Evolved monsters have high HP pools. And it would alert the herd as well. Were-deer are not the aggressive sort. They would just run away if they can, I say."</p>
<p>"What's the plan then?" I queried.</p>
<p>"What is your range, Sire Pat?" John queried back.</p>
<p>"About a hundred meters," I replied, "Although I can boost it to 120 if needed." I gestured to the circle on my hood. The robe was, to my great dismay, coming off at seams. It was quite a reliable piece of equipment, besides being easy to clean and comfortable to boot. I was loath to discard it, but it was damaged beyond repair due to my haphazard journey the weeks before.</p>
<p>John nodded as I shook off the upsetting thoughts, "We should make it so they have no choice but to fight. Sire Pat, take Carla and flank them from the left. Julie and I shall take the right. The fighters of the herd must stand their ground against us while the rest make their escape."</p>
<p>He glanced at Julie, "That is <em>exactly</em> what we want. Gain as much experience from the fighters so you can level up. Ensure you hit each target at least once, <em>then</em> focus on taking them down. The rest of the herd will scatter, and without their guardians, will be easy pickings for the other monsters."</p>
<p>'Wow. Ruthless.' I was a bit taken aback at how easily the man had signed off the death of over a hundred innocent creatures. And I was a part of it whether I liked it or not. It was how this world worked. If the deer were left alone, they would bring more threats down on the people around here. So pragmatically, it was the right approach to cull them. Yet I was still a bit disheartened over the cold-hearted manner in which it was approached.</p>
<p>John continued with the minutiae of the plan while I steadied myself for the massacre to come. 'Just another batch of monsters. Won't be the first, won't be the last.'</p>
<p>"Let's go then." Julie started moving immediately after saying those words. John followed her after another nod to Carla and myself.</p>
<p>"Well, just you and me now Carla," I noted with a grim smile. "Shall we get in position as well?"</p>
<p>"Yes, Pat." Carla nodded, reflecting my smile. "Let us be off."</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>I was a bit behind the "schedule". The hurried trek up north had put a major dent in my stamina points, so I was taking my time to ensure I did not gobble too much before the coming fight. Thankfully, I was just in time to make a couple of observations that could potentially throw a wrench in our plans.</p>
<p>First, the golden deer - which was more of a stag than deer, had lit up like a Christmas tree as soon as it got into range. Normally, I would've considered it to be a magical coat or something similar, just high-level monster things.</p>
<p>Second, another normal-looking deer had lit up similarly as I got into position. This deer, unlike the golden one, did not stand out in any way compared to the rest of the herd. Just the two deer giving off a strong magical presence.</p>
<p>I stopped to observe what was so special about the second deer. I wanted to shoot an Identify at it. Unfortunately, an arrow hit the golden one's neck just as the thought came to me.</p>
<p>"PAT," Carla shouted, "NOW!"</p>
<p>I watched in mute amazement as the entire herd stilled as one and stared at the falling monster. The one still lighting up my perception was looking in the direction where the arrow came from.</p>
<p>I did not stay watching, however. I selected a horizontal strip of land in front of me with sufficiently flammable-looking grass and immediately cast Incendio. A long line of fire raged out of nowhere just as the golden-turning-brown deer stilled on the ground and lost its magical sheen, kicking the monsters into action.</p>
<p>Most of the herd instantly backpedaled. I watched the little ones in the middle of the herd, still on wobbly legs, being urged away by their mothers. In that single cold moment, I realized Tyee would not have called these were-deer monsters at all. They lived and bred like normal deer. They were simple <em>animals</em>.</p>
<p>Not the magical one though. It gave a disdainful snort in the fire's direction and barked at the others surrounding it. They formed a wedge formation in Julie's direction and were charging straight towards her within moments.</p>
<p>"A lure!" Carla hissed from my side, "They need help Sire, come on."</p>
<p>And so our plan fell apart at first contact. Originally, we expected the deer to panic after we took down their leader; then we would harass them from both sides while they flailed about before picking them off one by one. Instead, our prey responded with nigh-military precision and immediately turned the tables on us.</p>
<p>As we ran towards Julie and John's position, I noticed another magical blur coming in from far away. A dark shadow was approaching our destination from the other side of the deer charge, a shadow I recognized as Carl. Shit had actually hit the fan.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, our four-legged prey was far too fast for either side to reach in time for help. Unlike Carl and his granddaughter though, I did not need to physically reach there to help.</p>
<p>Even if I wasn't running myself, the deer themselves were too fast for me to target. I noticed a trail of magical one's signal as I followed it through my perception alone. Then, I selected a patch of ground a bit ahead of their assault and charged a thousand points worth of lightning.</p>
<p>"Carla, wait," I called out. She halted and looked back at me with an annoyed expression edging on anger, about to say something, but noticed my raised palm and stayed silent.</p>
<p>"STUPEFY!" I shouted.</p>
<p>With a resounding crack like the whip of the heavens, white-hot supercharged bolts of pure electricity coursed through the superconducting channels towards the target and hit the ground with mighty thuds, throwing dust and hot debris into the air.</p>
<p>The stampede was immediately stunned to a stop. All were unhurt, of course, but I never meant to hit any of the creatures themselves. I just wanted to buy enough time for us to regroup.</p>
<p>As I came within shouting distance of Julie, I screamed: "The one in the back, half antler one, SHOOT IT!"</p>
<p>The were-deer shook themselves out of the stupor. I felt more than saw the half-antler magical one narrow its eyes at me.</p>
<p><em>whiz</em></p>
<p>An arrow sprouted from another deer's belly by its side. 'Damn it, Julie! That one only had a quarter antler, not a half!'</p>
<p>"THE OTHER HALF ANTLER!" I yelled and pointed fervently. 'Fuck I'm winded.' I was pretty sure my SP was touching the bottom from all the sprinting around.</p>
<p>"Pat, don't stop now, we're close," Carla called out from ahead.</p>
<p>"Y-Yeah," I breathed in, "Just gimme a minute."</p>
<p>Carl had reached the duo, so they were probably okay now. I watched Julie shoot an arrow at the magical one, which was probably the Maricha, and the arrow <em>missed</em>. I knew she had her True Shot skill active because I watched the arrow curve mid-trajectory, but it was aimed at a target that didn't exist. 'Is it throwing illusions around its real body?'</p>
<p>Coming closer, I realized it was doing just that. The magical cover that my perception showed me and the body my eyes were seeing were not lining up.</p>
<p>Thankfully, we reached the trio before any further action happened. The five of us now stood off against around ten of the were-deer. Carl was standing in the front, flanked by John and Carla. Julie and I stood behind them, tensed.</p>
<p>"That one on the left. Besides the one Julie just shot. That's the Maricha." I called out. "It's using some form of body illusions."</p>
<p>None replied, but I knew they all heard me. Even the Maricha itself. This close, I could see the sharp canines it sported in a sneer. Its eyes were now fixed on me, somehow having singled me out for recognizing it. Perhaps all my hand-waving and pointing helped. It hid behind another large one, safe from the arrows.</p>
<p>It gave a quick glance at the retreating herd, and I could swear its sneer widened into a smirk. In direct contrast, the other were-deer looked like they were about to piss themselves.</p>
<p><em>whiz</em></p>
<p>Julie restarted the combat, scoring a hit on a so-far unhurt one. With a bark, the deer tried a haphazard rush again. I was ready this time. I selected the Maricha before it could gain momentum and cast another beefy Stupefy.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the lightning did not strike my target, instead scattering the charge again and blowing the big one to kingdom come. Before the steaming chunks of still-steaming meat fell to the ground, half the were-deer immediately turned tail and followed the escaping herd.</p>
<p>Some of the meat chunks hit the Maricha and it <em>hissed</em>. In the next moments, Carl and Carla took down one each with a thrown dagger to the temple. John had cut one that came too close in a hurry to run from the explosion.</p>
<p>In a handful of seconds, only two of the ten were-deer remained. The Maricha was looking at me with ferocity as if I had personally offended it somehow. It barked a couple of times, and both the stags were covered by the golden coat that was so peculiar to their kind. 'Has it figured out how I perceive it?'</p>
<p>Another bark and both dashed towards the forest to the west.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>"My deepest apologies milords and milady. I saw the golden one and my Skill didn't think it was all that trouble. To think it be disguising itself among the crowd, very clever this one, aye..." Carl started. Apparently, his danger detection skill was fooled by the decoy and that led them to bite more than they could chew. At least, would have without a Battle-Mage on their side.</p>
<p>"It's alright Carl, we made it out fine. I am <em>so close</em> to level 25, I can almost taste it!" Julie replied. Her enthusiasm wasn't deterred in the slightest. "We should pursue them. If we finish off the Maricha, I <em>know</em> I will level up."</p>
<p>Carla was introspective. John, however, was staring at me.</p>
<p>"What is it?" I asked after he kept staring without speaking.</p>
<p>"Uh, apologies my lord Sire Hero Mage." He spoke the mouthful of a title for the first time since yesterday, "I was simply astounded by the powerful Skills at your disposal."</p>
<p>"Haven't you already seen a Battle-Mage fight? Francisa's brother, wasn't it?" I was confused, "You said he had Skills powerful enough to take down the Dark Bear in minutes."</p>
<p>"True," John exhaled with a chuckle, "although Sire Hilbert was a <em>Master</em> Battle-Mage, close to level 50 at that."</p>
<p>"I... see," I replied, not sure how to take it. "Thanks, I guess?" 'A compliment it is.' I decided to address the matter at hand. "So, what now?" I motioned towards the tree line beyond which our two foes had disappeared less than a minute prior.</p>
<p>Before anyone could interject, Julie vehemently set our path, "I <em>want</em> that golden deer." She gestured around, "We almost died here, but we persevered. It is five against two now, and one of them is injured. We are so close to the finish line, are we just going to give up now?"</p>
<p>I was against the idea. From the looks of it, John was too. He seemed to hesitate to put it into words, however. Carl has decided to keep his silence this time. Surprisingly, it was Carla who backed Julie up.</p>
<p>"It is still mid-afternoon, we have half a day yet." Then she started at Carl, who just nodded, "And I'm confident I can track the monsters here. We have them cornered and out-numbered. Better not to let a dangerous monster roam free if we can put it to ground, I say."</p>
<p>With that, the decision was made. Julie actually had Carl hang back, wanting the thrill of hunting herself I guess, citing that four of us were enough. Carl warned us not to split up, especially giving stern warnings to John and Carla to stick to Julie and me respectively. Even so, he would be keeping an eye out, so I did not protest much.</p>
<p>We trailed the monsters and it wasn't long before we encountered a golden were-deer in a clearing. I felt it in my perception long before I saw it, and between our Scout and Warden with home ground advantage, it was simply a matter of time.</p>
<p>Julie immediately notched an arrow. The were-deer, so far just standing and glancing around, promptly bolted away as soon as it sighted us. Normally, we would have given chase. The issue, however, was that there was a very conspicuous trail going in the exact opposite direction.</p>
<p>Once more, my suggestion of following one trail at a time was overruled. John and Julie ran after the fleeing golden deer. Carla and my sulking self were left to fend for ourselves.</p>
<p>"We should head back. This is so obviously a trap, it is not even funny anymore." I was so done with this hunt; wasn't really my thing anyway.</p>
<p>Carla, though, took it personally. "Sire Pat, I-I know I don't have my grandfather's expertise nor my liege's strength." She inhaled deeply, and affirmed more for herself than me, "but I <em>am</em> a Proficient Scout. Please trust me, I know what I'm doing."</p>
<p>I was about to reply that I had no doubts about her abilities but was cut off by Julie's yell.</p>
<p>"<em>HEEEEEELP!</em>"</p>
<p>Both of us stood still, staring into the darkness in the direction of the sound. Carla took half a step in that direction. "Carla, don't-" I tried to warn but another yell cut more off.</p>
<p>"<em>CARLAAAAA!</em>"</p>
<p>Her liege's voice, calling out for her specifically, was the last straw.</p>
<p>"Carla, don't." I tried to call her out. "It's a trick!" But my words were lost in the wind. By the time I finished my sentence, Carla was already out of the clearing and into the darkness beyond.</p>
<p>"Fuck, I didn't sign up for this!" I tried to backpedal, back to the camp. I couldn't find the trail we took here. "Fucking forests." Might as well have been a maze to me. "Carlaaaa!" I shouted. No response. "Caaaaarl" I tried. Nothing.</p>
<p>A rustle pulled my attention to the side. Just behind a large tree stood the golden were-deer. 'The fucker actually hid from my senses!' I noticed its hide no longer had a shiny golden sheen. Nor was it the common orangish-brown of its comrades. It was dirty dark-yellowish fur instead, decorated with long scars telling of battles past. It wasn't magical anymore. It was real. I was facing the Maricha.</p>
<p>And it was <em>pissed</em>.</p>
<p>When my eyes found my foes, I was slightly taken aback. It had the same beady eyes as the Centaurs, strongly reminding me of how Nina's fury had bored into me the night her tribe was set aflame. While Nina's anger held a deep sorrow underneath, this one was fueled by a ferocious unbridled <em>hatred</em>. But I saw the same resolve in both. A resolve that promised terrible vengeance, even on the pain of death.</p>
<p>Perhaps I deserved it. After all, I killed the guy's friends and family. What did the innocent animals do to me? Dozens of little baby deer, barely days old, would be chased by monsters like Dark Bears and ripped into pieces. Weren't they running <em>away</em> from the monsters? Yeah, they were. We attacked them without reason or notice. I personally stopped them from fighting back. I was the one who pointed their leader out. Crippled them.</p>
<p>'They are fake, just mob creatures in a game.' A part of me insisted.</p>
<p>'Is their pain fake?' Another part spoke up.</p>
<p>'Is their hatred fake?' It asked again.</p>
<p>'Is their fury fake?' It insisted.</p>
<p>The former part of me stayed silent. I cared not. A tear streaked my cheek. It certainly <em>felt</em> real.</p>
<p>I wiped the tear away with a finger, staring at the surreal spot of wetness for a moment.</p>
<p>I looked up, and the Maricha was gone.</p>
<p>'Wait, what Maricha?' A part of me questioned.</p>
<p>'You know, the deer we were chasing in the forest.' Another part answered.</p>
<p>'What forest?' A third part spoke up.</p>
<p>I looked around. I was standing in the clearing.</p>
<p>'What clearing? There are no trees around.' Some part of me questioned. One of those three, I was sure.</p>
<p>I did look around, there were no trees. Only darkness. Darkness so deep that it stood like a wall circling around me. Like I was standing at the center of a large stage, with a harsh spotlight on top of me.</p>
<p>'I... I was in this game.' A voice spoke in my head. It sounded like me.</p>
<p>Yes. Game! I immediately flicked my finger up, willing my Status Window into existence.</p>
<p>The semi-transparent window popped up. It was as it always was. No voices spoke up in protest.</p>
<p>'Why am I looking at my Status Screen again?' I questioned. At least, I hope it was me.</p>
<p>I was just about to close it down when something under "Special Effects" stood out:</p>
<br />
<hr />
<p>[Maricha's Snare]: You will sleep, and dream, and sleep, and dream, until you die.</p>
<p>[Countering Perpetual Illusion]: ETA 2:43 min</p>
<hr />
<br />
Chapter 49 - Delusions of Reality2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2049%20-%20Delusions%20of%20Reality/<h1>Chapter 49 - Delusions of Reality</h1>
<br />
<hr />
<p>[Maricha's Snare]: You will sleep, and dream, and sleep, and dream, until you die.</p>
<p>[Countering Perpetual Illusion]: ETA 1:39 min</p>
<hr />
<br />
<p>I stared at the Status Window, watching the seconds slowly tick down. Somehow, each tick seemed to take more time than a second.</p>
<p>The clearing I was standing in was gone. I could see nothing, smell nothing, touch nothing. Only darkness remained. Only the voices remained.</p>
<p>"There never was any clearing..." a part of me whispered.</p>
<p>'There was one. I can see the Status Window, I am trapped in an Illusion.'</p>
<p>"And you think the Status Window is real?" it asked.</p>
<p>Fuck.</p>
<p>'Yes. It is real. And I only have to wait a bit to go back.'</p>
<p>"Go back where?" it queried.</p>
<p>'Why so many questions?' I asked it instead.</p>
<p>"Well, I am a part of you after all," it chuckled.</p>
<p>Huh, am I really so irritating? Never mind. As for where I am going.</p>
<p>'Back home, on Earth,' I almost answered on reflex.</p>
<p>'Wait, back to Earth? Where else would I be?' My sight caught the Status Window again.</p>
<br />
<hr />
<p>[Maricha's Snare]: You will sleep, and dream, and sleep, and dream, until you die.</p>
<p>[Countering Perpetual Illusion]: ETA 1:34 min</p>
<br />
<p>'Right, Game. Forest. Deer. Illusion.' I recalled the words I had memorized with great effort a minute ago to help keep my sanity.</p>
<p>I will probably wake up in the forest.</p>
<p>"If the deer hasn't killed you already," the part spoke up.</p>
<p>'Hey, still here, aren't I?' I countered.</p>
<p>I glanced back at the Status Window. 'Game. Forest. Deer. Illusion.'</p>
<p>I had nothing to say to that. The unadulterated hostility emanating from the creature's eyes still burned bright in my mind. Whenever I was able to recall it, at least. How did the developers manage to make it so real...</p>
<p>"What does real even mean to you?" the part interrupted me.</p>
<p>'Certainly not this place.' I replied.</p>
<p>"Evading the answer now? So not like us. Maybe this is the reality and everything you knew was but a dream?"</p>
<p>'Game. Forest. Deer. Illusion.'</p>
<p>"Alright!" it chuckled, "why do you think the deer's hatred was programmed?"</p>
<p>'Because that is how monsters are supposed to act in a game. You hit them and they hit you back.'</p>
<p>"Elaborately evading again. If they are simply supposed to hit you back, why the hatred? And it hated <em>you</em> more than the others, didn't it? How was that written in a script?"</p>
<p>I thought for a bit. If it was possible to emote hatred towards another, what conditions need to be satisfied? I managed to spoil its plan several times, perhaps that was it? But then how...</p>
<p>"Or perhaps," the part spoke up loudly, "it was not programmed at all."</p>
<p>I was afraid it would say that. I knew that <em>I</em> was alive. And I existed in this world. By that virtue, others could be dragged into this world as well. And they may well be alive too.</p>
<p>"Unless you yourself are not, as you are so fond of saying, <em>real</em>?" the part questioned snidely.</p>
<p>I wondered if I was a copy of my original self. Cloned into this place for sake of a test.</p>
<p>'Where does that leave me? I have no way to exist outside this world?'</p>
<p>I glanced at the Status Window. The only thing in existence.</p>
<br />
<hr />
<p>[Maricha's Snare]: You will sleep, and dream, and sleep, and dream, until you die.</p>
<p>[Countering Perpetual Illusion]: ETA 0:41 min</p>
<hr />
<br />
<p>'Right. Illusion. Okay part of me, listen.' I took a metaphorical breath.</p>
<p>'I. AM. REAL.'</p>
<p>I wasn't done.</p>
<p>'THIS. WORLD. IS. FAKE.'</p>
<p>But... Perhaps the beings inhabiting this world weren't fake. I had already wavered quite a bit wondering the same, but the point never really struck home until my encounter with the Maricha.</p>
<p>With a start, I realized that I had been deluding myself so far. While it was true I had no hard evidence to say the people here were not NPCs, they showed enough signs that I should've seriously considered it at least.</p>
<p>Even if they were simply advanced artificial intelligence, or dragged into the world like I was from elsewhere, they were <em>sapient</em>.</p>
<p>'Is that not enough to consider them real?'</p>
<p>The other part of me didn't speak up again. It seemed I was gaining control of my mind again. It wasn't fractured anymore, the previous haziness forgotten like early morning fog.</p>
<p>There was a small light in the void. A muted brightness wavering far off in the darkness.</p>
<p>"I warned ye to stick with him," a foreign voice invaded from... Above?</p>
<p>"I-I'm... Sorry," a quiet feminine whisper followed a sniffle.</p>
<p>"What do we do?" a voice I recognized. 'Julie?' Her voice sounded reeked of sorrow and barely hidden panic.</p>
<p>"Sire Pat must be taken to the capital. Perchance the Healer Hero can give us a miracle." John spoke up.</p>
<p>I tried to speak up but couldn't make a sound. I glanced back at the timer, it was down to single digits. The small light was widening up to occupy my entire view. I was finally waking up!</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>I stared at the flickering flames of a dwindling campfire, shivering slightly as the cool breeze filtered through my tattered robes.</p>
<p>"It is mighty late, milord. You should get some rest." Carla sat by my side and whispered her concern. She had been glancing at me ever since she returned from her shift on watch, wanting to speak up.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I probably should," I whispered back but did not move.</p>
<p>The remains of the mundane were-deer hung over the fire. The Maricha was too precious to be food - it would be hauled back to the capital and dissected for alchemy and magical equipment. Not that it mattered, I had forgone any meat for the night. I didn't have the stomach for it.</p>
<p>Carla sighed and fed the flames with a rather large wooden plank. Apparently, she had no intention of taking her own advice. I wasn't in a mood to speak - hadn't been since the afternoon, but I was thankful for the company nonetheless.</p>
<p>I glanced at Carla, her face alight in the renewed fire. The twisting flames cast strange shadows on her freckled visage. She was lost in her guilt-ridden thoughts.</p>
<p>'Is Carla an AI?'</p>
<p>I thought of Betty. I presumed she was a chatbot. I was good at assuming things. I was also often wrong. Despite that, the difference between Carla and Betty was like heaven and earth.</p>
<p>'Has Carla been kidnapped as well?'</p>
<p>If so, then her memories must've been wiped. And replaced by an entire life "a Carla" had lived. And the same memories were transplanted into others who knew her.</p>
<p>'Or was she actually born in a virtual world?'</p>
<p>A product of beings transported earlier in times unknown. Was that the eventual fate of us "test subjects"? Recycled into a new test run as netizens with new memories. I shuddered at the thought. Carla turned to look at me, forcing a smile.</p>
<p>"Everything alright Sire?"</p>
<p>I smiled back, as genuine as I could at the moment, and nodded. No matter how much I thought about it, I realized I had no way to conclude. However, my perspective had subtly and irrevocably shifted from viewing these people as mere characters. What my friends from Earth probably realized from the beginning had taken a high-tier monster knocking me into la-la land to recognize.</p>
<p>"So, a Berserker, eh?" I quipped. A man can only brood for so long.</p>
<p>"Ain't that a right surprise Sire?" Carla jumped on the thread of conversation. "Downright hilarious, I say. An Archer turning into Berserker, the gods must be right drunk."</p>
<p>Even I thought the same. When I heard the term "berserker", I imagined rage-blind heavily-muscled open-shirted barbarians laying bloody waste to any foe who came near. Julie was... not it.</p>
<p>To hear her describe it, however, it seemed to provide the one thing she was <em>really</em> after - being able to shoot while moving. Why was it such an obvious misnomer? I couldn't say. Rather, there was an option of a magical offshoot of her base class that I personally favored but she decided her current skills were enough magic already.</p>
<p>"Is it true that it is originally from another Class tree?" I queried.</p>
<p>"Aye," Clara poked at the fire with a handy stick, "All Berserkers are usually from Knights. It be a good Class though. Powerful. Unlike Scout evolutions." She exhaled loudly. I smelled a story.</p>
<p>"You don't like the Scout evolutions?" I pushed.</p>
<p>She looked at me, her light brown eyes staring deep into mine.</p>
<p>"I..." She started, looking away. "I want to fight the calamity." She sighed again, then the damn burst. "But my family is all Scouts. And as a child, I didn't know better. I am trying to be strong now but..." She leveled a piercing gaze at me, "I couldn't even kill the creature that put you under the spell. I could only distract it until my liege and grandpa finished it off. I..." Her eyes turned moist. I knew what was coming, having heard it a hundred times already. "I am so sorry milord. I want to fight the calamity, but I almost killed one of the Heroes!"</p>
<p>A tear streaked her cheek. She wiped it off with a dirty palm. I had tried to console her several times. I had tried to absolve her of blame, forgive her, shrug it off. Nothing worked. I decided to simply let her be.</p>
<p>We went back to staring at the fire. I glanced back at Carla. If I still thought of her as an NPC, I would've tried to talk more. Bug her for more information. Try to help in some way. But now, I realized she probably just needed time. And I was the last person who could help her, being the very cause of her guilty conscious.</p>
<p>"Well, I'm still here." I got up, startling Carla. "And sleepy. So goodnight. You should get some rest as well Carla."</p>
<p>Carla smiled, a small one but more honest than any other today. "Yeah, I probably should."</p>
<p>Seems like I wasn't the only one brooding that day.</p>
Interlude - Tides of War2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Interlude%20-%20Tides%20of%20War/<h1>Interlude - Tides of War</h1>
<p>Tyee rolled the kinks out of his shoulder as he strode out of his hut. His gaze wandered over the sea of colorful canvas in his immediate vicinity that made up his tribe. Farther off, he could see more structures that affirmed the presence of many more tribes in the region. All gathered at the Rock of Haida - something that hadn't happened in centuries, to discuss the matters of war.</p>
<p>Rock of Haida, Tyee mused as he started pulling down the rough hide covering his temporary hut, was literally a boulder that Haida the Blessed used to bash the head of his last opponent and gain control of all the Centaur tribes. Tyee wondered how long ago the event must have happened, to have passed into myth. A Centaur super-tribe that ruled all plains seemed more fantasy than reality after all.</p>
<p>Tyee had seen the rock for himself. It seemed like any other rock to him; except perhaps he would need his two arms to barely lift it instead of using it as a single-handed bludgeon like the legendary Haida. It was not the rock itself that mattered, however, but the idea it conveyed. A dream. A possibility.</p>
<p>A few others were now up and about, packing up their belongings or opting for food first. Tyee was just about down with securing his packs, so he pulled out a roasted maize and sat on a log to enjoy the tough corn. The sun began to rise, and Tyee ruminated on the events of previous weeks.</p>
<p>After splitting up with the Hero, he backtracked their trail until he was sure that he caught the attention of their pursuers. He tried to lead them on a wild chase but the human Rangers were far too skilled to evade for long. But just as soon as they were about to catch up, after barely a few days much to his shame, they gave up. The Hero must've made it to the High Passes safely.</p>
<p>Without the need to cause a distraction, Tyee flew like the wind to meet up with his old tribe. The Tadako tribe was riding hard up north for the war-meet with Nina at the helm. He caught up with them after a week of hard ride, and just as he suspected, was welcomed with open arms. More so than he expected. The dual reasons soon became clear.</p>
<p>First, Nina had not publicized his exile among the tribe. For all they knew, he had simply gone on for a long hunt. Nina herself may not have opened her arms in welcome, but desperate times called for such necessity.</p>
<p>Second, the reason for such desperation, was that their last healer was dead. Kai had died in her sleep, a few days after he set west. Saddened though Tyee was for the loss, he realized that the old Centaur could not have asked for a better death. Kai had fulfilled her purpose. She had died as she had lived - on her own terms. Tyee knew she was at peace, riding the carefree plains with the spirits of their ancestors. Even so, he would recite a prayer for her at twilight when the spirits were most active.</p>
<p>When they reached the site of war-meet, situated around their historic artifact, he like many others, had gone to pay his respects. The war-meet would be held around the Rock. The sight of the chipped bolder brought forth the memories of another smoldering boulder. Of a perhaps-Spell-Maker and definitely-Battle-Mage Hero who, despite being at such a low level, could call the destructive forces of nature on a whim. Tyee briefly wondered if the other Heroes were as absurdly powerful.</p>
<p>Nina had refused to bring him with her to the actual council. Her anger at his actions still burning hot, mayhaps. Earlier he had thought that to be a mistake, his counsel would've been useful. And he did have a not insignificant pull as the Medicine Man. But he need not have worried. Because the war-meet ended within a few days and only one death. The tribes had unanimously chosen war.</p>
<p>And Nina was the War Chief.</p>
<p>Perhaps it was the relief of a successful plan coming together, or perhaps her new position required more subordinates, but Tyee was included in the discussions held later on approaching the humans. Nina was adamant about recruiting <em>all</em> the Centaurs. Taking after Haida himself, Nina conceivably yearned for a united Centaur kind to stride the warpath. Even the relatively peaceful and isolated Chachan tribe were sent summons of their War Chief. Those refusing would be conquered or destroyed. This meant those tribes secretly allied with the humans would be forced in as well. Tyee wasn't sure if he was relieved with the fact that their forces would count betrayers among them.</p>
<p>After the tribes were rounded up, they would ride east. The city on the north-eastern coast would make a fair starting point for Centaur dominion. At least those were Nina's words. Tyee suspected they were not her own. Even so, he could not find any reason to disagree with the course.</p>
<p>Tyee finished all the corns on his maize and left the husk for scavengers to feed on. Most of his tribe was up and awake now. He could see a hitherto hidden excited fervor amongst them. Like he felt when in the midst of a hunt. Perhaps this war was the largest hunt there was to them. Some of them were darting glances at Nina's grand tent, hoping for a call to ride sooner than usual.</p>
<p>Tyee, instead, glanced east. The Sun was now well and above the horizon. Soon they would ride there and meet the humans with weapons in hand. He briefly wondered if he would face the little Hero Mage on the battlefield as well. And what would he do if they did?</p>
<p>He shook his head and readied himself for a long ride as the high-horn sounded. It was right on time.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>Francisa released a deep sigh as she sipped the cold stew without really tasting it. Finally, some news. Pat was safe.</p>
<p>She couldn't believe her ears when she heard that he was kidnapped by the Centaurs. She was so beside herself that she didn't even give an earful to her brother. Not that it mattered, her Lord father and Lady mother had enough words for the little troublemaker.</p>
<p>First, Lady Carol and now Sir Pat. The New Church had grown from a mere nuisance to a downright menace. And traitors within the ranks of Royal Ranger Corps? She had never seen her father so furious. On top of all that, the traitor Arkanis had somehow fled his confinement. The absence of his apprentice Fredrick pointed to a possible explanation for the escape, but that news did little to abate her worries.</p>
<p>All her life, she wanted to do <em>something</em>. She had grown up believing herself to be the lynchpin in clan Lohengramm's survival. But here she was, back to sulking in her room. Had her turn come and gone? Had she messed up everything? Had she doomed her clan?</p>
<p>No. She shook herself from that spiral. She had had enough self-deprecating talk over the week since she parted with Pat.</p>
<p>Pat. She thought. Not Sir. Not Hero. Pat. When had she started <em>thinking</em> of him like that?</p>
<p>Her Lord father had asked her to not accompany him on their rescue mission. He had a long talk with her over their future approach. Apparently, simply sticking close to the Hero was not working out in their favor. She chuckled as she imagined that it had somehow worked on her, perhaps.</p>
<p>"Something wrong milady?" Her maid queried from behind. No, not her maid. This one was Pat's maid. She saved his life. After planning to take it. Francisa wasn't sure how to consolidate those two facts. But when she realized it was for the sake of her little girl, Francisa's heart softened.</p>
<p>After the talk with her father, she also realized that all <em>they</em> had done was think of how to make use of Heroes for their cause. After plucking the Heroes from their home, and expecting them to save the world not their own then hoping to engage them in their clan troubles. Had anyone cared what the Heroes desired? Had <em>she</em> ever asked what Pat wanted?</p>
<p>"Nothing such, Elise. The stew is well-made." Francisa replied, putting the well-tread trail of thought behind her. What is done is done. She glanced at the maid instead. Elise had changed in a way she couldn't quite put her finger on. Sure, Elise smiled more openly after Lady Arya had gone all the way to the edge of their territory to heal her daughter, but it wasn't just that. "I wonder what the Heroes are up to," Francisa muttered, giving the maid an opening.</p>
<p>"Oh!" the maid smiled wider than possible. "Milady Arya spoke of finally reaching level 25. Ah, what new Class she had I wonder. She was already so strong as a healer." And there it was. An almost fanatical adoration of the Heroes, especially Lady Arya.</p>
<p>Francisa supposed it was to be expected. The Heroes were here to save their world after all. And as they grew in power, so would their followers. A few fanatics were par for the course.</p>
<p>"And I'm so glad Sire Pat is safe as well. The New Church can burn in hell-fire for all they did." Elise continued. Somehow, she seemed more... there. Earlier, she used to blend in with the scenery. Appeared when you needed her. Now she stood out. Right, Francisa concluded, she has more of a presence than before.</p>
<p>"I hope they catch the fat lard and skin some layers off." Her maid hadn't stopped talking. "Ah, pardon my crude words milady." And she didn't hold her words back anymore. Does a stint in prison change a person to such a degree? Or was it the recovery of her only child? Francisa didn't know. It was amusing if nothing else.</p>
<p>"I understand the sentiment." Francisa smiled. She dropped the spoon back into the half-filled bowl. The major problem remained. Pat showed not a slight bit of interest in her. And she didn't know if she wanted to simply seduce him for their clan purpose anymore. A part of her recalled the face Lady Arya made when news of Pat was announced in the hall. Had Francisa made a similar face? She dare not imagine where that trail of thought led.</p>
<p>For now, she would redirect all her efforts into the New Church debacle. If Fredrick was involved, that gave her some leads to follow. She would rally Hamilton, Lady Arya, and Lady Carol to the cause. She would also "requisition" some spells stored deep in the Mage Tower for Pat. Neysaa wouldn't mind. She would bring Neysaa into the fold too. Clan Lohengramm had stood placid in face of their foe for too long. Francisa herself had dithered enough.</p>
<p>It was time to bring the fight to their enemy.</p>
Chapter 50 - Area of Effect2024-03-18T23:22:20Zhttps://priteshtupe.com/gs/Chapter%2050%20-%20Area%20of%20Effect/<h1>Chapter 50 - Area of Effect</h1>
<p>"One fire spell, one ice spell," I murmured lightly, "one lightning spell, one light spell, one sorta-gravity spell." I wondered if I should count the others. 'Might as well.' "Two curse derivatives, two utility spells, and finally one no-op hack."</p>
<p>I had a total of 7 base attack spells and several variations on how I could use them. I could use them directly or lay 'em series of Rune-traps, I could boost or reduce the effect by controlling the volume of mana supplied. And I could combine the above to multiply my effective repertoire of "Skills". I was approaching parity with what a Mage could achieve without System getting in their way. In fact, I believed I could further eclipse what "normal" Mages could achieve with an increase in level and my understanding of the System.</p>
<p>Was I satisfied with the status quo?</p>
<p>'Hell nawww!'</p>
<p>From my perspective, I had been given free rein over the underlying nature of this reality that no one else currently enjoyed. 'Parity with same level Mage?' I scoffed, 'I should be pawning them to moon and back.'</p>
<p>"Sire?" Carla's voice echoed beside me. She had been keeping close to me since the dawn when we started from the camp on our return journey back to the Lohengramm household. Johnathan had received a communication from his dad, who had received one from Francisa's dad. The search for the keys was considered the highest priority mission, and all Heroes were converging back on the palace intent on setting off to the south to retrieve the "Faerie Key" first.</p>
<p>So the world still behaved according to video-game rules. That was good to know. The Maricha had shaken me enough that I believed our main goal of ending the Calamity would be sidestepped for the other short-term stuff and we'd get lost in innumerable side-quest chains. The main quest was still on. 'Perhaps that would be game-like too, if how many players play it.'</p>
<p>"Nah, just thinking about my options. What Skills do other Mages around my level usually have?" I had my quest list and spell-repo opened side-by-side. Today, after a long absence, I was back to the activity that brought me the most joy. Experimenting on new spells!</p>
<p>Carla gave it some thought. I glanced around, noting the small group I was part of for the past few days. Carl was off scouting far ahead, still visible to me so not <em>as</em> far. Julie and John were a few steps behind us, Julie chatting away excitedly while John nodded every once in a while. Something was going on between them but it <em>really</em> wasn't my business, so I hadn't brought the matter up with Julie. Maybe I should mention it to Carol, she will surely -</p>
<p>"A shield of some kind, I say." Carla interrupted my thoughts. "I've noticed you have quite the firepower Sire, but little means of defending yourself. Most Mages have a rudimentary shield of some manner against most physical and magical attacks."</p>
<p>I nodded. I was working on a defense Circle already, hoping that it could be stitched into clothes or embedded on some artifact. But I barely could get a normal defense Circle to work, let alone a mobile one. Perhaps I was going about it wrong. How would one go about outright blocking attacks? Use the accio spell creatively for physical? That would be deflecting them more than blocking if that would even work. And magical attacks? I'm sure the environment variables had some use-case here but to hell with <em>that</em> waste of time.</p>
<p>"Mayhap a close range attack would've been nice as well when you get surrounded and lack a proper shield." She added, nodding to herself.</p>
<p>Now that, I hadn't thought of it at all. I could use area-of-effect attacks in close range but I would get caught in them as well.</p>
<p>"Hmm... Interesting." I immediately scanned my repo for inspiration. Soon enough, I had it! In fact, I had already thought of such a spell before but more so as a joke than as a serious contender for a concrete implementation.</p>
<p>I waved the quest list away, concentrating on the repo. 'Alrighty, here we go.'</p>
<pre><code>test_aoe =
</code></pre>
<p>I thought about it a bit, more to ensure that I wasn't missing anything crucial. It was as simple as a spell could get.</p>
<pre><code>test_aoe targets =
</code></pre>
<p>That's right. A "universal push" that would punt away everything around me. Well, all the targeted monsters at least. Pushing away a volume of air wouldn't matter. Of course, that meant I was limited to the number of "points" I could select at a time but that was a problem for future Pat.</p>
<p>Now, on to the nitty-gritty:</p>
<p>First, the target would be the center of the blast. Or "origin" as I like to designate it. I would have to consciously target a sphere around myself.</p>
<p>The "targets" would be a list of selected monsters; I'd loop on each and push it further away from me in a direct reverse of accio.</p>
<p>That's all. 'So simple!'</p>
<p>"..Oi!" Julie poked me in the side.</p>
<p>"Oww, what?" I nursed the spot. She hadn't been gentle.</p>
<p>"The carriage is here, you can have your fun inside, yeah? Carla's been trying to bring you back to your senses for a while."</p>
<p>I surged out of the tunnel-vision from my Status Window and noticed the carriage arriving near us, Carl already seated beside the driver. The carriage was supposed to be our ticket to the capital. As I breathed a sigh of relief seeing the lack of visible decorations, I heard Julie gossip behind me: "See, that's how you wake him up. He gets like this sometimes." 'Oi, what new rumors is this woman spreading.' Julie smirked at me, Carla sending a measuring glance my way.</p>
<p>"Come, you can gawk at each other later, our ride's here."</p>
<p>"W-what?" Carla sputtered. I just sent a withering glance at Julie. She really had changed. I hadn't known her to be the teasing type of gal. Guess all that extra energy had to go <em>somewhere</em>.</p>
<p>"Let's go." I sighed and got on the carriage. I'll be seeing Arya, Carol, and Francisa soon. Divin and Taro would arrive later as well. I was quite looking forward to how each had progressed.</p>
<br />
<p style="text-align:center"><strong>¤ ¤ ¤</strong></p>
<br />
<p>I had my Status Window open, but my attention was on the shifting scenery outside. The carriage was speeding quite fast on the lonely route, despite the poorly maintained state of the road.</p>
<p>The rapidly moving greenery reminded me of the rides through country roads back home. I held back a sigh, coming back to the task at hand.</p>
<p>'So, for each target "t", increase the distance between it and origin.'</p>
<p>I started off with a simple outer loop to keep it going, then an inner loop through the targets.</p>
<pre><code>test_aoe targets = while true; do
for t in targets;
do
# todo push here
done;
done;
</code></pre>
<p>Now, for the reverse accio logic:</p>
<pre><code>test_aoe targets = while true; do
for t in targets;
do
t.x++;
t.y++;
t.z++;
done;
done;
</code></pre>
<p>'Aaaaand done!' No need to even check the bounds, they can go to infinity for all I cared. 'Heh, imagine that!'</p>
<p>"Something the matter, Sire?" Carla piped up from beside me.</p>
<p>The carriage was not as large as the Royal one, it had enough room for 6 people to squeeze in. With just the four of us inside, we had spread out comfortably. Carla and I took one seat while Julie and John took the other facing us.</p>
<p>I was momentarily confused by her query. Why would something be the matter? I was just sitting here doing my thing.</p>
<p>"You smiled out of nowhere," Julie helpfully supplied with a smirk of her own.</p>
<p>'Ah.'</p>
<p>"No matter as such," I smiled again gently, "Just finished a -" I stopped. 'Should I tell them I can make new Spells on my own? How will it affect the storyline?' I was glad I managed to shut my mouth before my brain caught up. 'How do I spin this?'</p>
<p>"New Spell, right?" Julie asked innocently.</p>
<p>'Aargh. What the hell, Julie!'</p>
<p>Both John and Carla were looking at me with wide eyes. I had to control this immediately. Now, I couldn't outright lie that I didn't have a new Spell.</p>
<p>"Yeah, a new Spell." A truth. "I got this book about beginner Spells from Neysaa in Capital." Another truth. "I've been experimenting with it." Final truth. And the lie is nicely tied up with a bow on top.</p>
<p>It was common for new Mages to experiment with their "terminals" or however they saw their Spells. Hell, most of the Mages got their specialized "Skills" from family-heirloom Spellbooks.</p>
<p>I needed to have a talk with Julie about sensitive information. Thankfully, she kept mum as I vaguely explained to Carla what the "test_aoe" was about. I couldn't keep calling it that though. It needed a new name.</p>
<p>"What is this Skill called, Sire Hero?" John asked coincidentally.</p>
<p>I stared at the dipping Sun cresting the tree-line, drowning in the memories long buried. A name rose unbidden to my lips like a blast from the past. With a smile that stretched across my face, I whispered:</p>
<p>"Depulso"</p>